Public Movement: National Collection

Public Movement regards the Museum as an arena where civic behavior in public space is molded according to the ideals of a democratic society. National Collection examines the Museum as a site and set of activities through which national and cultural identity are defined. The Declaration of the State of Israel took place in 1948, in the original location of the Tel Aviv Museum, during an historical event in which art and politics were as one. National Collection opens almost a decade after Public Movement's inaugural performative act: the laying a wreath of white flowers on the steps of Independence Hall. The exhibition temporarily returns the Independence Hall to the "Hall of Art" to underscore a complex relationship, and interdependency, between the State and its cultural institutions.

Drawing on the historical and contemporary contexts embodied by the Museum’s architecture, collections, gathering spaces, and codes of conduct, Public Movement activates political and national mechanisms by engaging the participant in a series of actions and new choreographies. In this light, the Museum collection is not assessed for the material value of the artworks, but as a visual body through which society defines itself. Public Movement confronts the alleged neutrality of the museum, and its function as a site of peaceful respite amidst conflict, to activate its role within the sphere of international politics.

To participate in the exhibition, the audience meets in the main building and then moves through the Museum’s galleries, as well as spaces that are usually closed to the public, in groups of up to 25 people. From here, Public Movement members lead each group through a site-specific performance that includes a series of activities: ceremonies, short speeches, rituals and processions through the Museum—the choreography of which is based on two years of ongoing research and work in the Museum.

As part of National Collection the performance Debriefing Session II is staged in a separate, secret location in the Museum. It is a one-on-one meeting undertaken with a Public Movement Agent. Debriefing Sessions are Public Movement methodology, which exist in the transition between research and action. Prior registration is required.

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"Public Movement" is a performative research body established in 2006 by Omer Krieger and Dana Yahalomi, its director since 2011. The group initiates and creates activities within the public sphere, bringing together, with audience participation, politics and art. Public Movement studies and creates public choreographies, forms of social order, overt and covert rituals. It explores the political and aesthetic possibilities residing in a group of people acting together.

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Public Movement
Public Movement Director – Dana Yahalomi
National Collection co-conceptualizer – Alhena Katsof
Consultant and Deputy Director – Gali Libraider
Public Movement members – Ma'ayan Choresh, Laura Kirshenbaum, Adili Liberman, Gali Libraider, Meshi Olinky, Moshe Shecter Avshalom
New members – Nadav Eilon, Mor Gur-Arie, Danielle Shoufra
Debriefing Session agents – Hagar Ophir, Nir Shalouff
Independence Hall guides – Johnny Reves, Ori Smama, Ohad Weber
Project manager – Adi Nachman
Training manager – Carmel Bar
Studio manager – Lihi Levy

Extended Team
Committee – Amit Drori, Jackie Shemesh, Saar Szekely, Tal Yahas
Space and object design – Samuel Ben Shalom
Public Movement anthem – Yammi Wisler
Debriefing Session Co-Creator – Alhena Katsof
Research for Debriefing Session II – Hagar Ophir
Texts – Deakla Keydar
Head of documentation – Kfir Bolotin
Debriefing Session translator – Michal Shalev
Vocal training – Yaniv Baruch
Rami Heuberger
Public Movement Founders – Omer Krieger, Dana Yahalomi
Rescue is based on Emergency, created by Omer Krieger and Dana Yahalomi, 2008