Event Venue
Idris, Mendeli 8 Tel Aviv
Bustan Al-Hub, showcasing Yuval Atzili and Michael Liani.
Opening: 31.05 20:00 / Closing 10.06
[I went to the Garden of Love/ And saw what I never had seen – Blake, 1794]
The term “bustan” derives from the Persian word for ‘a place of smells,’ and commonly refers to an agricultural garden or orchard located near a water source. For this reason the term has gained popularity throughout the Middle East, where rainfall is scarce.
The context of this exhibit –the Tel Aviv Pride Week– is a popular event where numerous tourists come to the Orient to embrace and celebrate diversity (gender/religion/culture etc.) enabling them to encounter the Exotic Other.
This bustan offers a glimpse into part of Israeli visual culture and emphasizes its complex relation to fantasy, temptation and pleasure.
Michael Liani was born in Migdal HaEmek in 1987, he currently lives and works in Tel Aviv. He graduated from the Minshar School of Art, earned his BA degree at Tel Aviv University and completed a MFA at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. Liani held solo shows in Rosenfeld Gallery (2018) and Kav 16 (2015) in Tel Aviv, and has also participated in multiple group exhibitions both in Israel and Europe. Liani has received numerous awards, including the 2017 International Fine Art Photography Competition, PAC, Carrousel Du Louvre, Paris.
Yuval Atzili was born in Holon in 1986. He received a BA from the Photography Department of Bezalel (2012) and graduated Bezalel’s MFA in 2016. Atzili has held a number of solo exhibitions, including at The Art Gallery in Kibbutz Be’eri (2017) and The Museum of Israeli Art in Ramat Gan (2015). He has also participated in numerous group-shows in galleries and museums in Israel and abroad, including at The Cuckoo’s Nest Gallery in Tel Aviv (2018), The Third Paper Biennale at the Erez Israel Museum (2017), the D.I.R of China Photographers Association in Beijing (2016) and The MoBY Museum of Bat Yam following his attainment of The Young Artist Award of the Ministry of Culture Awards for Visual Art and Design (2016).
