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The Israel Museum in Jerusalem has become a major center for the display and research of Dada and Surrealism thanks primarily to the scholar-poet-dealer Arturo Schwarz.
In 1972 Arturo Schwarz (1994–2021) gifted thirteen 1964 editioned replicas of Marcel Duchamp’s ready-mades; in 1991 he donated a rare collection of manuscripts, books, periodicals, documents, manifestos, and correspondence; in 1998 he gave more than 600 works of Dada, Surrealist, and pre-Surrealist art by some 200 artists in a variety of styles and media. The Israel Museum’s extensive holdings of Dada, Surrealism and their legacies is already available on-line, but to celebrate Surrealism’s 100th anniversary the museum plans to augment its digital presence with an interactive critical anthology, inviting scholars and artists to study and contribute to the collection vis-à-vis.
The talk will focus on several exhibitions Adina Kamien has curated with an attempt to take a fresh look at Dada and Surrealism and their continuing relevance to contemporary art. Kamien will demonstrate this approach through a discussion of three international exhibitions: Surrealism and Beyond, Man Ray: Human Equations, and No Place Like Home, where theme, layout, and catalogue aim to recapture the Dada spirit.
The meeting will be in English and takes place remotely on Zoom. Participation is free. Registration is required.
Dr. Adina Kamien is Senior Curator and Head of the Israel Museum’s Department of Modern Art. She has curated numerous exhibitions and authored books, catalogues, and articles dealing with Dada, Surrealism, and other twentieth-century artists, movements, and topics. Emphasizing the connection between the avant-garde and contemporary art, Kamien introduces innovative curatorial strategies within an encyclopedic museum, with a sensitivity to current sociopolitical questions. She is curator-in-charge of the Vera and Arturo Schwarz Collection of Dada and Surrealist Art. She published Duchamp, Man Ray, and the Conundrum of the Replica in Routledge’s “Studies in Surrealism” series. She curated groundbreaking exhibitions, such as No Place Like Home and Bodyscapes, with local and international acclaim. Her current exhibition at the Israel Museum explores Fields of Abstraction.
The Israel Museum is the largest cultural institution in the State of Israel and is ranked among the world’s leading art and archaeology museums. Founded in 1965, it houses encyclopedic collections, including works dating from prehistory to the present day, in its Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Jewish Art and Life wings, and features the most extensive holdings of Biblical and Holy Land archaeology in the world. In nearly seventy years, thanks to a legacy of gifts and generous support from its circle of patrons worldwide, it has built a far-ranging collection of nearly 500,000 objects, representing the full scope of world material culture.