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Other People's Problems (Conflicts and Paradoxes) Herzliya Museum for Contemporary Art Herzliya / Tel Aviv

7.09.2013 - 14.12.2013

This exhibition is concerned with other people's problems – conflicts that do not touch us directly and confrontations stemming from the inherent incompatibility between opposing interests. The works examine various aspects of such confrontations, and shed light on religious, political, economic or gender-related sites of contention as captured in the realm of visual art. Examples include the predicament of Libyan refugees stranded at sea while trying to reach a safe haven, who receive no help from passing European ships; mythological conflicts such as the story of Medea, who kills her two sons to avenge her husband's betrayal; the problems faced by political activists in Iran who are assassinated because of their ideas; and additional conflicts concerning the destruction of the ecology, corruptive powers, and individual ethical struggles.

Although these problems do not seem to touch us personally, their very existence hints at the possibility that they will eventually appear at our doorstep, when it might already be too late. Moreover, the lack of empathy and compassion that most of us exhibit when faced with other people’s problems may come full circle one day to hit us. In this sense, other people’s problems are actually our own, and we should treat them as such.

The artists participating in this exhibition are aware of the solidarity required in order to address such conflicts. They convey their support for other people's problems in a variety of media, and in tones imbued with criticism, irony, or compassion. 

Curators: Doreet Levitte Harten, Dalia Levin

Artists: Nir Adoni, Adar Aviam, Gili Avissar, Breaking the Silence, Olaf Breuning, Chris Coombes, Forensic Oceanography (Charles Heller and Lorenzo Pezzani), Parastou Forouhar, Kendell Geers, Guy Goldstein, Efrat Hildesheim, IRWIN (Dušan Mandic, Miran Mohar, Andrej Savski, Roman Uranjek, Borut Vogelnik), Christian Jankowski, Shahar Marcus, Aharon Ozeri and Roee Ozeri, Jean-Gabriel Périot, Pablo Rasgado, Santiago Sierra, Federico Solmi, Roland Stratmann.