Date: 13.-19.3.2024
We are already preparing the 3rd year of this mini-festival in which we will welcome mainly Israeli artists. This year the event is held under the auspices of the Embassy of the State of Israel.
As in previous years, it will open with an exhibition. This time it will not be about individuals, but will feature a pair of great artists - Max Epstein and Karina Hananeia, who will come from Jerusalem to participate in the opening of the exhibition. They will be staying in Prague for the whole week so we can have a nice time together.
The title of the exhibition "Less Than Home" is a play on words that led to the exact transmission of what one feels when one (temporarily?) loses one's place... in life... in one's soul... in society... This name was derived from the English word HOMELESS - home less - less than home.
Max and Karina are not just visual artists. Remember Fellini's One Man Band? We can say that two artists from this category came to Prague - two multidisciplinary artists.
Karina Hananeia
is a visual artist, choreographer, dancer, producer and animation teacher in Jerusalem, she completed her MA at Sapphire Academy. And later earned her Bachelor's degree and teaching certificate from the prestigious Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.
Max Epstein
is a multi-disciplinary artist: photography, sculpture, animation, installation, and creator of the Wild Kids animation studio for children, and the head teacher there, graduated from Bezalel Academy of Arts.
The exhibition Less Than Home offers more than just paintings. There will also be a separate section - sculptures. This piece of sculpture was dictated by the sea, it "came out of the sea" and was presented more than once in Israel under the modest title Exercise with a Knife. These are pieces of wood washed ashore by the sea, seen, picked up and transformed into beautiful sculptures. Why are they part of this exhibition? Because they, too, seem to have lost their original nature and have been left "homeless".
One of the evenings of this Israel Week will be dedicated to Performance.
It is a theatrical performance of the Choreography of the Homeless, in which Karina's language of dance and Max's artistic response expressed through oil painting on a lighted table (the image created right in front of the viewer's eyes is transferred to the screen) will talk about... well, you'll see for yourself.
The show, which has been performed not only in Israel but in other countries as well, usually involves 3 performers. Unfortunately, the third person, the cellist, was unable to attend. Therefore, the soundtrack recorded by him is used.
The program of the next evening of the Days of Israel will be a meeting with the two artists and a talk by them about the Wild Kids animation studio for children with a screening of amazing children's animated films.
14 years ago (in those distant times), while taking a closer look at the trends in the development of social life in Israel, Max and his fellow thinkers came up with the idea that there was a need to open educational facilities for children whose parents were busy with the "hustle and bustle of life" (don't forget that Israel is the land of start-ups and this creation and its development needs time and mental strength. Unfortunately, both of these parameters are not dimensionless). So even with living parents, these children do not get the attention, understanding and warmth they so much need. After all, the FEELING of losing a home doesn't hurt any less than the physical loss of a home.
And there are children who are not accepted by society at all...
The studio, conceptually based on the ideas of Janusz Korczak (whose child pedagogy is still very much relevant today) and on the Pedagogy of Animation (authors - Israelis Yuri and Lina Krasny) has turned from a dream into a successful reality.
The Wild Kids Animation Studio, which has become a sheltered home for wild children, has now acquired its own premises. The first generation of kids have grown up, graduated from college and always love to come back to the studio - some just to visit and some maybe even to teach.
The conditions under which teachers are hired are all about the teacher being a working artist, that is, experimenting, creating tirelessly, just like his students.
There are many animated films by the Wild Kids studio.
You can get more information from the interview:
https://maarav.org.il/english/2019/05/02/2015/
The next evening scheduled as part of the Days of Israel is a public conversation between two artists - Israeli Max Epstein and Czech artist Jiří Černický. Questions from the audience are of course welcome.
13.3. 19.00 - Opening of the exhibition Less Than Home
14.3. 20.00 - Choreography of the Homeless (performance), entrance fee - 360,- CZK
15.3. 19.00 - Wild Kids (talk about animation studio for children), entrance fee - 350,- CZK
18.3. 19.00 - Max and Jiří dialogue (public conversation between two artists - Israeli Max Epstein and Czech well-known artist Jiří Černický)
The events on 14.3. and 15.3. are charity events.
The money raised from the performances of Choreography of the Homeless (14.3) and The Story of Wild Kids (15.3) will be transferred to Israel to support the Wild Kids animation studio.