This June, Jerusalem Design Week hosted more than 150 Israeli and International designers, displaying their work through dozens of exhibitions, installations, film screenings and live performances.

 

The 7th edition of the JDW started on June 7th, guided by artistic director Anat Safran and head curator Tal Erez.

 

Under the theme “conserve”, the exhibitions and events focused on the idea of conservation and conservatism through the prisms of society, environment, and culture and the role design plays therein. 

 

Through the lens of the society, the festival concentrated on the idea of conservation and the ideology of conservationism, by presenting three subcategories: (The Market), the environment (The Garden), the culture and (The Library), the role of design in those context.

 

Organized by the Design Center of Jerusalem, the main center of action was The Hansen House, an Ottoman-era leper hospital transformed into Jerusalem’s leading contemporary art space.

 

“The theme emerged from a growing feeling that on one hand we are increasingly uncertain about our influence on the future, and on the other, in all facets of life, find more and more comfort in the persistence of the past. The obvious disciplinary manifestations of this is conservation as a mechanism and conservatism as an ideology,” says Tal Erez, adding, “However, when we broke those terms down to see how they can relate to design and function as a brief, we understood that more often than not, conserving — or prolonging the past — is one of the more radical actions we take. That, we felt, was already an interesting starting point for a design week.”

 

The Human Conservation Projects, taking place in the historic Bezek Building, was the main exhibition of the Jerusalem Design Week 2018 and explored the human effort to conserve its own existence. The projects created by the Israeli and International designers were under the themes of mind, body, us, collective mind and collective body. It analyzed the mechanisms we install to prolong our physical existence, memory and identity during and after our lifetime.

 

The interaction with the public was part of the festivities. Designer Guy Mishali and architect Nati Tonkelrot encouraged the audience to bring items to add to a unique vacuum-packaging installation art piece.

 

The theme of food is obviously present in this festival as it’s in our lives. The “Salt Repast” installation aimed to share the culinary traditions of Israel and to present the local production. Tons of salt were brought to Jerusalem to share the local traditions of conservation with the audience of the festival. By using restoration facilities and various types of tools, the artists Michal Evyatar and Carmel Bar extracted the “preserved” fish from the salt structure.

 

Paris, Milano and Berlin all have their Design Week, but there is difference between theirs and the Jerusalem Design Week. The spirit of the place in Jerusalem make this event unique. The exhibitions and installations have a local connection, a cultural spirit of Israel.