Hartbeespoort exhibition looks for peace through Israeli and Palestinian art

An exhibition, Reconciliation Imagined, will be held at Pecanberry Farm in Hartbeespoort during the Reconciliation Day long weekend featuring the works of eight Palestinian and Israeli artists and aimed at facilitating conversations that imagine peace.

The exhibition will be open to the public for four days with the aim of encouraging collective thinking about the power of art to shape and reimagine the current social tension.

Curators Valeria Geselev and Carlyn Strydom have used the theme of reconciliation and SA as an example, asking how art and creative practice can help to imagine peace and reconciliation for Israelis and Palestinians.

“The initiative offers a rare opportunity for the SA public to view contemporary Israeli and Palestinian art, and hear the various artists’ stories. Local collectors will get a chance to buy original paintings, prints, collages and photographs by prominent contemporary artists from the city of Haifa. The artworks were selected by Yalla Shoola! Gallery from eight artists: Abed Abdi, Ada Rimon, Anna Lukashevsky, Maria Zaikina, Nasrin Abu Baker, Rachel Anyo, Tair Zargary, and Yigal Feliks,” said Geselev. 

She established Yalla Shoola! Gallery in 2023 in the Haifa city centre after a decade of curating socially engaged art projects. The gallery features a diverse collection of contemporary art by local independent artists.

In November, Geselev packed about 60 small artworks into a suitcase and brought them to SA to exhibit and sell. “In the spirit of Haifa — a mixed Jewish-Arab city — the suitcase serves as a capsule for the possibilities of peace among Israelis and Palestinians,” she said.

Reconciliation Imagined is open for visitors from December 15-18 from 11am-4pm at Pecanberry Farm, Plot D22, De Rust, Hartbeespoort, 0216

An event will be held every day at 1pm: 

• December 15 — an interactive exhibition walkabout;
• December 16 — art talk with Geselev and Strydom;
• December 17 — live music performance by The Dark Cow; and
• December 18 — Freedom Vinyls listening session. 

Tickets are available via Quicket.