Sharett, Nurit.

*1963 in Israel
lives in Tel Aviv
1983 – 1985 Photography studies, Camera Obscura, Tel Aviv
1990 – 1992 Photography studies, group for autodidactic photography, Zürich
2000 film studies, Camera Obscura, Tel Aviv
2001 - 2003 Photography & Videoart studies, Beit Berl College for art (“Hamidrasha”)

 

Exhibitions/Awards [Selection]:
2010 Awards recipients, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art
2010 Jerusalem Film Festival
2010 Video Screening, Kav 16 Gallery, Tel Aviv
2009 Video works evening, the Jewish Museum Hohenems, Austria

H2

 

Date: 2010
Length: 27:00 min.
Format:  16:9
Specification: Colour, Sound
 

In documentary style, the artist tells the story of the Middle Eastern town of Hebron, a town at the center of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In 1997, the town was split into two sectors, H1 under the Palestinian jurisdiction and H2 governed by Israel. Sharett comes to the Israeli part of the town to teach video to a group of young Palestinian women, whilst filming her own story about H2.
Panoramic shots of the landscape alternate with still images of several local families who Sharett befriends during her visits. The seeming serenity of nature is echoed in people's composure. They arrange themselves in picture-perfect fashion, gazing quietly and smilingly into the camera. There is almost no movement. Sharett shows the way they pray, make tea or bake bread through a series of still images that further intensify the feeling of tranquility. The artist recounts some of her conversations with the locals, which leads the viewer to the realization that the tranquility is actually illusory. One of the artist's female friends explains to her how to differentiate between a friendly gunshot and enemy fire. It becomes apparent that the people of Hebron have acquired the life skills that reveal the depth of their psychological trauma, a trauma caused by being caught in the middle of the conflict.

OC 

 


Interview:

► 1. Your video has been chosen among over 1700 festival entries to participate in Videonale 13. How central the video medium to your overall artistic production?

 

Is it complimentary to other media you use or do you work exclusively with video?

I’m a video artist and by now I work exclusively with video. I started with still photography, and photography leads my working process. So I’m a photographer-video-artist.

 

► 2. Is there a particular theme, concept or problem your art addresses the most?

 

My work deals with my life in Israel, with Israeli society, its conflicts and crises.
I do have a few abstract works, however most of my works are personal and political at the same time.

 

► 3. What artists do you relate to or find significant for your own art-making?

 

I don’t have one artist I relate to in my work. I’m inspired  by various media  from films to literature. I highly appreciate Abbas Kiorastami’s work.

 

► 4. Do you think the video medium can address social or political issues better than other art media?

 

Well, that’s a difficult question. The video gives us opportunities we don’t have in other art forms, as sound and moving image are integrated. So yes probably the video can address those issues better.

 

► 5. Art can be seen as a mirror that registers and reflects life or as a tool that transforms it. Which of the two positions is close to your own art-making philosophy?

 

The closest position to me is the mirror that reflects life but with the hope that through my art I can help to make a change in at least some of the viewers. I do believe that my work forces one to become more aware of the reality in which he lives.

 

► 6. How do you understand success in an art-making career?

 

Success in the art making career is when you can devote yourself to art only, and don’t have to earn your money elsewhere. Which means of course that your work is being shown all over.

 

► 7. What is the most difficult and the most rewarding thing about making art / being an artist?

 

The most difficult part is “walking in the dark” in the beginning of a project, and the loneliness in the process. The most rewarding thing is the full freedom to do what I want and love and then get the feedback from the viewers whose hearts I touched.

 

► 8. What are your upcoming projects?

 

The upcoming project is again a political work involving my life story.
A daughter to a Zionist family, I was born shortly after 1967 war- the breaking point of The Dream. I grew up with a post-Zionist pessimistic father and a Zionist optimistic mother. I can’t  reveal more, as it's still a work in progress. I don’t write a script.  I start with a raw idea and then have a long process of filming and editing. I didn’t start filming yet.

 

► 9. What do you do when you don't make art?

 

I teach video in a religious art college for women, which made last year especially interesting as at the same time I also taught Palestinian women. Besides that I do editing and filming jobs.
 

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