"Assimilation," choreographed by Adi Boutrous, is a performance that features himself and another male dancer, Jeremy Alberge. The performance starts on the second floor of the Umm el-Fahm Art Gallery and then moves as the dancers skillfully descend the tight steps of the gallery, located in an outdoor space, before re-entering the closed area of the lower level of the gallery. This movement from top to bottom and inside and outside through a tight space, pulls the audience into the dancers' intimate acts. As the dancers navigate complex physical positions, the physical discourse calls into question different dimensions of bodily interactions, the spectrum between intimacy and public performance and strength and vulnerability. The performance is in dialogue with Boutrous’ video installation “Pigments,” part of the exhibition cluster “Always of Dawn.”

On the rooftop of the Umm el-Fahm Gallery, with a view of the city as a backdrop, Jones performs a ceremony using a mixture of dried plants gathered from the surrounding area and tree sap incense burned on coal. This act serves as an environmental ablution and ritual purification for both the spectators and the city. It is an attempt to connect the macro-history of the city with the that of the gallery space. The performance is in dialogue with Jones’ exhibition “Leket Liqat,” part of the exhibition cluster “Always of Dawn,” presented at the gallery.

The performance “Offering to the Gods” is inspired by ancient magical spells. Mahajena relocates and revisits these spells, also adding an imagined ceremonial act. A group of women cook a tribute to the god of fertility, pleading for fruitfulness and dynastic endurance, loudly reciting prayers as they use a pestle and mortar to shred leaves and salt, which are then spread on the ground and cooked in a pot as an offering. A humming sound and the recital of an ancient prayer pronounced prior to sexual intercourse is preceded by the production of a magical drawing on a wall, a sigil whose energy will symbolically linger in the gallery’s environment for the duration of the exhibition. This performance took place at the Bezalel Gallery as well as al-Markaz Gallery in Jerusalem, as part of the exhibition “Vow,” on the subject of the female goddess, femininity and sexuality in the Middle East.

In this performance Afek addresses the audience’s olfactory sense. In a temporary laboratory he produces different scents referring to biography, local products, places and memories. These smells are kept in transparent plastic bags and served to the audience. When the performance is not taking place, the olfactory laboratory functions as an accessible sculpture, inviting visitors to interact.

The Evening Menu:

A quick stop at the promenade, on the sidewalk - arak, star anise, vinegar, cardamom

The neighbors meet on the stairway while the desert is burning and the city is on fire - Israeli garlic, za’atar, wormwood herb

My dead roots - horseradish and beets

Making love under the olive tree - damp soil in wine

The morning after last night is finished - turkish coffee, tobacco and vodka

The Menu