Dagesh I Network meeting and exhibition in Berlin

On 11 September, over 40 members of the Dagesh artists’ network came together in Berlin for a network meeting. The evening centred on the artists sharing their current projects. Six network members presented their latest works and ongoing research to the network members in attendance.

Multimedia artist Sarai Meyron opened the evening with her video work Memory of maybe tomorrow, which grapples with the complexity of Zionism. Graphic designer Liad Shadmi then outlined some key aspects of the history of modern Hebrew fonts and how they are realised in various designs. In his research, he is concerned with the question of how Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin characters can be made compatible within a design. In this context, Liad Shadmi emphasised the relevance of collaboration between graphic designers of different linguistic backgrounds, showing illustrative examples.

After that presentation, filmmaker Irina Rubina screened her animated film Contradiction of Emptiness, which celebrated its world premiere at Animafest Zagreb 2024. The film addresses the ongoing pain resulting from Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine. Irina Rubina then explained the special way in which the film was made as well as the context of its creation as part of a scholarship residency in Canada. Filmmaker Robert Schultzman also presented his new film, Seagulls. Seagulls depicts a Ukrainian refugee dancer and addresses the complexity of masculinity, flight, friendship, and identity. Finally, Alex Stolze presented his new album, ש ורוח Noise and Wind. The tracks represent Alex Stolze’s musical approach to grappling with the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. The album celebrates its release on 25 October 2024.

After the exhibition, the network members in attendance discussed the projects that had been presented, as well as their own plans and the challenges they are currently facing in their artistic work.

We would like to thank everyone involved for the intensive and enriching exchange. Special thanks go out to the artists who shared their projects and ideas with the network, as well as to Dagesh curator Daniel Laufer for helping to conceptualise the evening.

photos: Elena Krasnokutskaya