#HragVartanian of #Hyperallergic recently traveled to Israel as part of the 13th #ArtisResearchTrip. If you follow Hrags Instagram, you probably knew about his visit (and if you dont, you should! Very informative stream: instagram/hragv). The Israeli online art magazine Erev Rav just published an interview with Hrag. You can find the Hebrew version here: erev-rav/archives/33686 Hrag met with Yonatan Amir and Ronen Eidelman, Erev Ravs editors, just before we visited Hansen House and this conversation continued over email after the trip. The interview is a result of both conversations. We took a stab at the translation: ER: After a week in Israel, what is your impression of the scene? HV: There is a lot of art here, despite being a small country. But the general feeling is that you cant really succeed here without leaving or having an outbound focus. Its sad. I wish Israeli artists had a way of gaining major success without leaving. I was also surprised to discover there was a lack of connection between Israeli and Palestinian artists. ER: Did you consider not coming on the trip because of the political situation and the momentum of the BDS movement? HV: I always wanted to visit Israel, mainly because of the rich Armenian heritage and my interest in Armenian culture. The BDS conversation definitely impacts my view on Israel and the Palestinian territories. I am a big believer in human rights and I think there are several obvious human rights issues in Israel which the international community has been criticizing for years including the treatment of the Palestinians, the blockade on Gaza and torture. When I arrived at Ben Gurion airport I had to wait at the border control for 5 hours during which I was interogated and had to provide the names, birthdates and telephone numbers of my immediate and extended family. The border control was pretty invasive probably due to the fact that I was born in Aleppo (Halab) in Syria, a fact that is noted in my Canadian passport. This process introduced me to the tyrant patterns of the Israeli governments. I never had to give telephone numbers of family members before, and this shocked me. But when I finally arrived to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv I met many amazing Israelis with values which I also share. I see that many Israelis feel helpless due to their limited ability to impact governmental activities, and this is something that I can identify with through my expeirence with the givernments that I have been living under. ER: How common is the BDS debate in the New York art scene? HV: The BDS is definitely at the center of many devates in the contemporary art scene in New York and in many other places. Becuase of the disproportionate reaction of the Israeli military in Gaza this past summer, many people around the world were shocked by the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Unless a drastic change takes place in Israel, the BDS will only grow and become stronger in the next few years. I think that people who are related to the BDS, or support it, feel that the current system is broken and that there are other options.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 20:02:34 +0000
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