Photo club Kamnik will organize a solo exhibition of the Israeli author Adi Shalmon entitled Holylandscape as part of this year's festival of the month of photography - Photonic triangles 2012.
The opening will take place in the Kamnik House of Culture gallery on June 2, 2012 at 8 p.m.
The legend of the "holy land" was gradually formed on the basis of historical facts and their constantly changing interpretations. Jerusalem consists of several layers: layers of history, faiths and religions, layers of rulers and subjects, layers of social complexity. They all left traces in the landscape, which was marked by centuries of struggles for power and the testimonies of the inhabitants who discovered the roots and inexhaustible source of their faith in it.
The sixth generation of my family in Israel and the fourth in Jerusalem, of which I am a part, have shaped my perception of the land and the city. On the one hand, I grew up with historical tales and legends about the land, on the other hand, I am fascinated by the charm and mysterious beauty of the landscape.
The creative process and my choice of photo locations was inspired by several sources: I focused on the legend of Masada in Israeli culture and its gradual decline. As a child, I went to the Old City of Jerusalem and visited the Holy Sepulcher, I looked for my grandmother's ancestors and listened to my mother's stories about how in 1967, shortly after the Six Day War, she looked for the destroyed tombstones of her grandfather and great-grandmother in the old Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives . The photographs are testimonies about the landscape and the events that took place there, as well as about the past, which is carved in stone. The paintings reveal layers of history and the faith stored within them. My observation of the landscape and my almost archeological research through the photographic lens are dedicated to the search for human footprints and tracks. The images are thus always imbued with a search for holiness and places that have strengthened my perception of holiness. The blessing of the land shapes our view of it and our attitude towards it.
The selection of landscapes is a product of my familiarity with the legend and the importance that has come to surround it over time. To this can also be added my personal feelings of holiness, which appear in the photographic process. For years I have been collecting photos, places that reflect a strong bond with this land. The project marks only the beginning of the process of cataloguing, searching, sorting and editing my own image archive, which at the same time represents my completely intimate as well as very universal view of the "holy land".
(Adi Shalmon)
www.adishalmon.com
You can also read more at this website.
