“Time & Again” was inspired by the architectural structure of the Museum
of Islamic and Near Eastern Cultures, which serves as the exhibition’s point of departure. It focuses
on the visual and musical expression of patterns and repetitive elements in art, while exploring
their various meanings – ranging from an affiliation with mysticism and the conception of infinity
in Eastern culture, to rational and structural representations in Western culture.
In Islamic and Near Eastern cultures, repetition gives expression to divine wholeness. Complex
geometric forms such as the Mashrabiya (carved latticework) are characterized by symmetry and
mathematical order. These forms reflect an a-temporal logic identified with God, and are compatible
with the prohibition against representing human figures in a religious context.
In Western culture, Geometric and mathematical forms are also part of creative processes. During
the Renaissance, for instance, recurrent patterns highlighted harmony and order, expressing a new
and rational perception of the world. By the late 19th century, the rise of Western modernism had led
to the desire to represent innovation and simplicity and to the marginalization of ornamentalism.
However, over the first two decades of the 21st century, decorative trends have reemerged due to
technologies that innovatively weave together decorative and functional elements.
Repetition and multiplicity may also be examined in a social context: a recurrent presence
underscores the existence of the individual in relation to the collective, while blurring their
singularity when the group invests the individual with meaning as part of a larger whole. In Near
Eastern cultures, ornamental patterns lacking a central focal point, such as the arabesque, represent
the equal contribution to the whole made by a variety of individual elements. By contrast, modern
Western culture focuses on individualism and celebrates the singularity of the individual and their
freedom to exceed conventions.
The works in the exhibition present recurrent patterns whose expressive range is shaped by the
numerous practices and themes pursued by the participating artists: tradition and its impact on
identity, horror vacui (fear of empty space), which solicits compulsive action, architectural processes
of construction and destruction, spiritual dimensions of the creative process, the relations between
the individual and the group, gender, and the capacity of objects to carry a cultural charge.
“Time & Again” invites viewers to explore the repetitive actions and motifs in the featured works,
employing their unique gaze to add an interpretive layer of their own.

Tal Bechler, Exhibition Curator

Participating artists:
Nadine Bar Noy, Miriam Cabessa,
Danielle Feldhaker, Layla Klinger, Talia Mukmel,
Ronen Sharabani, Rami Tareef,
Amir Tomashov, Aviad Zinemanas