»Revisiting Villa Khury / The Prophets’ Tower: Haifa. 1995–2019«

A solo exhibition by Ilana Salama Ortar

It’s been 25 years since Ilana Salama Ortar first conceptualized her project on the destroyed Villa Khury’s erasure from public memory. The fortified Villa Khury was the last Arab stronghold in Haifa, Israel, during the 1948 war, and its fall signaled Jewish victory in the city. In 1979, a monumental modernist mall called The Prophets’ Tower was erected on the site of the Villa.

Through participative installations at The Prophets’ Tower mall, the artist initiated a reflection on memory in Haifa within the Jewish and Arab populations.

The exhibition reflects the current situation: »everybody is here, no one is going anywhere. Israel and Palestine are locked in a fatal embrace; what affects one will affect the other. The communities must find a way to coexist, knowing that the only alternative to coexistence is violence.«

Ilana Salama Ortar’s exhibition includes various elements: her brand-new documentary film with testimonials she recorded inside and outside the remnants of the once-splendid commercial center of The Prophets’ Tower; an animated circular diagram that traces 100 years of flux between violence, rejection, and acceptance in Israel/Palestine; an installation based on the artist’s self-recollection of war and peace; memory and oblivion; a blown-glass capsule; an architectural model, and works on paper.

On October 15, 7 pm, Ilana Salama Ortar will talk about her work and guide the audience through the exhibition.

Opening: September 12, 2019, 7 pm
On view: September 12–October 20, 2019
Opening hours: Thu 5–7 pm, Sat/Sun 2–6 pm
and prior to appointment by telephone ​+49 (0)711 996 19 474
Guided tour and artist talk: October 15th, 2019, 7 pm