Art in the Desert

The buildings that house the Negev Art Museum in the old city of Be'er Sheva housed the Ottoman governor in 1906 and the Great Mosque which now houses the Museum of Islamic and Near East Cultures. These buildings were located on the main route between Gaza on the coast to the center of town.

The architectural style is typical of Ottoman buildings, home to a wealthy family and a traditional mosque from the period. The special exhibit featured Turkish and Armenian contemporary artists, a very timely exhibit.

Interesting current exhibition in the Great Mosque building of Turkish and Armenian artists. Sea Hepsev's work entitled "Hands on Hips" is comprised of small embroideries that are different variations of a pattern typical of ancient and traditional lilim carpets. The symbol is for "woman". The female symbol is associated with the fertility goddess, and many sculptural forms have been found throughout the Middle East, especially in Turkey and Catalhoyuk that we learned about in prehistoric art from the sixth millennium BCE. Each of these embroideries differs from the others as a way of acknowledging individual unique qualities. Choosing embroidery connects the artist with her country's traditional embroidery done by rich and poor women.

Fatih Aydogdu's sculpture "Internal Affairs" has two ouds merged together. The oud is an ancient wooden stringed instrument common in the Arabian Peninsula, Middle East, and North Africa. In this work the instruments do not fulfill their intended role. It alludes to political censorship in the era of fake news. Rather than relying on facts, we are emotionally manipulated. The connection to representing the government is not accidental. Music played an important role in the lives of rulers, at religious and political ceremonies.

Alongside the double Oud were several illuminated miniatures that depict the kinds of celebrations the sultan might have that included music and dancing. This one is "Palace Celebration" a page from Bustan by Sa'adi, from Iran, 17th century. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, from the Israel Museum, Jerusalem

In her work "+18" Seval Sener created metal medallions that hang down from the dome of the museum like a screen. They mimic the Islamic patterning of the windows and floor of what had been built as the Great Mosque. The medallion is a common motif in Turkish architectural design from Seljuk (1037-1194) and Ottoman (1299-1922) periods. The figure of "18" is symbolic of the age of adulthood according to modern Turkish law.

In addition to the medallions, also cut in the traditional paper cut technique, Seval Sener alludes to the blending of two opposing worlds, the traditional and the modern. This work entitled "Modernist Painting" are the pages from art critic Clement Greenberg's 1960 article that formulated his idea about high and low art.

detail from "Modernist Painting", Seval Sener

Walls of the interior with medallion windows and two traditional Kilim carpets. These traditional carpets are completely made from wool and woven in the warp and weft technique.

This building which is called the Great Mosque was built in 1906 but never consecrated as a place of worship. In 1990 it became the Negev Art Museum. A small nearby mosque was built in 1931 and consecrated as a place of worship.

On display in the courtyard are two column capitals from the 8th century brought here from the Galilee region in the north of Israel.

Carved stone in kufic script, from Jaffa (on the coast)

Fragment of a tombstone, 10th Fatimid Caliph, Ashkelon (on the coast), 1130 CE

Carved marble decorated with vase of flowers, Ottoman