Exhibitions

THE NEW CRAFT


A new exhibition at the research gallery at HIT
The exhibition "The New Craft" which opened on Dec. 12th, 2015 is on display at the newly renovated Research Gallery at the Design Department at HIT.

This exhibition includes works by local and international designers, many of which try to explore the origin of the creative process of both material and virtual objects, while offering partially radical alternatives to craft. Among the works: A sofa which was designed on the basis of monitoring brain activity; a part of a wall which was woven by hand and made out of air filled bags that were industrially manufacture; video made tapestry; ceramic objects that were made using vocal cords, etc.

Craft is traditionally based on non-industrial hand work, which requires high skills and is characterized usually by laborious task. It lets the individual show his creativity as well as the nature of the work and its affinity to life in the broader sense of the word.

Created by Yaron Elyasi (Dana Tamari)
Created by Yaron Elyasi (Dana Tamari)

The notion of "Craft" was in its origin part of the political agenda of the "Arts and Crafts" movement in the19th century in Europe. It was a counter reaction to the industrial manufacturing process which was looked at as something that undresses the object of its human, personal, unique traces.

"The New Craft" , on the other hand, can be seen as a by-product of the post-modernistic era, whose expressions can be found in various aspects resulting from the various data technologies and the digital revolution.

As a result craft had turned into a creative arena, subverting the dichotomy division placed by modernism, between the artist and the designer, the artists and the maker, trying to re-examine the traditional relationship between man and machine.

Created by Tamara Efrat, Moran Mizrahi ,Dr. Amit Zoran – Crafted Material (Dana Tamari)
Created by Tamara Efrat, Moran Mizrahi ,Dr. Amit Zoran – Crafted Material (Dana Tamari)

The "New Craft Person" stretches the boundaries of both design and craft simultaneously, researches materials and manufacturing processes and promotes rethinking about the affinity between a person and his objects in his physical surroundings .

Unlike craft, it offers to look at machines as a product of computing technology while preferring in certain cases co-dependent mechanisms over individual expression.

Curator: Dr. Yael Eylat Van-Essen

Building 6, Entrance level

Closing date: 7.1.2016



HIT's RESEARCH GALLERY
The Research Gallery operates under the aegis of the Master Degree in Integrated Design (M. Design) and offers an academic display space, characterized by posing theoretical questions regarding design practice. This is a place which creates multidisciplinary experimental projects.

The gallery aims at advancing and deepening the discourse between science' technology and design. It looks to build a new experimental space which creates a synthesis between all these disciplines, which have throughout the years grown apart as autonomous fields. It aspires to show the innovation that lies in mixing these disciplines as effective and sustainable solutions to the current design challenges.

The gallery hosts three exhibitions per year, which bring upon theoretical questions that are in the fore front of design research now.

Some of the exhibitions have reached front headlines and have travelled abroad. Among them the poster exhibition "The Syrian people know their way", which was shown at the MANA contemporary center in New Jersey under the title: "Syria, the Silenced Scream".