Dan Allon 
Contemporary Art

Kschumma, a group exhibition, various venues

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Curator Sharon Toval:

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"Kschumma or Hshuma is an Arabic word brought to Israel by North-African Jews, and it means shame. It capsulate different cultural perceptions, which, in turn, affect the life and society in Israel. Similar immigrants have moved to Germany, in the same years, starting in the 1960s, and made significant changes there as well, especially in Berlin. This proposal, aiming to exhibit artists from Israel in a group exhibition at a gallery in Berlin, and to focus and display many different interpretations of the cultural phenomenon of Hshuma.  
The premise of the exhibition is primarily aesthetical, aiming to show a multi-voice perception. It would feature themes such as post-colonialism, west and east, Jews and Arabs, immigration, and representation of social challenges. More than all, it is the voice of a generation seeking to connect with its history, before influential people decided, for whatever reason, to erase it. For example, Muslims in Morocco still miss the Jews who “chose” to flee in the 1960s, as if they were lost, brothers. The same is true for the Jews. 
The exhibition theme and focus point originate from a cultural exchange between Jews and Muslims in Morocco, Israel, and Germany, in different contexts, between 2016 and 2018. It raises questions about personal versus national narratives, and in which forms of representation of shame different artists choose to use in the Israeli contemporary art scene. Does it mean that there is a hole in the stiffness of the concept of Zionism, within the inside of the Israeli society? Is the discourse of Zionism irrelevant or would it react to the new-tribal perception that might arise from the exhibition’s concept? Could artists that define themselves as “North African” have their voice, and what is the meaning of them choosing to exhibit outside of Israel? Maybe it means they can only speak aloud when being outside of their homeland? The exhibition would challenge and evoke questions regarding all the above, in a multidisciplinary and sensitive way, mixing Israel, North Africa, and Germany, into a melting pot of histories, using different types of mediums. From video and sound to painting, drawing, installation, and photography, it will try to establish a new canon, using narratives that have no historiographers."

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CATALOG IN HEBREW - HERE

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In the version that was exhibited in Israel, 2018, Allon exhibited the story The Mysterious Stranger, as a minimal and intimate sound work, made for one listener. For the version that was exhibited abroad, Allon added another layer to the installation, dying the wall in 1980's Israeli elevator, with 5 notes, proving another layer to the story. 

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READ THE NOTES - HERE

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