The Tel Aviv Museum of Art will present the exhibit 24 Frames per Second, featuring a collection of short animation works by Israeli artists. Conceived in cooperation with the Makor Foundation for Israeli film, these independent, non-commercial works were selected from hundreds of animated films made in the last decade. Curated by Tal Lanir, the exhibit will be on display in the Laurence Graff Contemporary Art Gallery in the Herta and Paul Amir Building from October 12, 2021 – January 8, 2022. The opening even will take place on Thursday, October 14, 2021, with outdoor screenings of the animation shorts on the wall of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art from 19:00 – 22:00.
The films will be presented according to the following themes:
Hollow Land: social or political films that focus on Israeli reality
Joints: abstract or experimental works
A Way of Being: tales of mental struggles, internal or real life-changing journeys
Fledge: coming-of-age narratives whose protagonists are children or youths
Journey Birds: docu-animation films on various topics
Puzzle, a compilation of films suitable for children, to be screened on Saturdays.
The selection of films shown will be changed every two weeks, in order to allow visitors to experience a wide range of animation works.
I haven’t yet explored the full list of films to be shown, but I have seen, and can strongly recommend Fledge, by Hani Dombe and Tom Kouris:
Eli is a typical Israeli teenager, with an edgy haircut, the big black boots and oversized plaid shirt that were the de rigeur uniform of the 90s, and a Jimi Hendrix poster in her bedroom. Her mother left the family after they immigrated to Israel from Russia, and Eli now lives with her Russian-speaking Grandmother in a desert town. She also has a couple of feathers growing out of her shoulder. Tom Kouris and Hani Dombe work magic in Fledge, telling Eli’s story in stop-motion animation, with exquisitely detailed puppets that convey teenage angst and the mythic power of grandmothers, as well as the nuanced relationships of high school girls. As someone who lived in the Negev, I can confirm that the set (also designed by Dombe) effectively evokes the vast, dry, landscape. Fledge is a moving and uplifting tale of family and folklore, the struggles of a young girl confronting the dilemma of growing up different and wanting to fit in.
Tickets and additional information may be found on the Tel Aviv Museum of Art website: https://www.tamuseum.org.il/en
