On May 25, 2023, the exhibition "Earth, Water, Wind, Fire… and Emptiness" will open at the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art in Haifa. The extraordinary exhibition seeks to shed light on the five elements that make up the universe we live in and the interrelationships between them, which are essential to maintaining the balance in nature.

The natural but intriguing connection between the first four elements: earth, water, wind and fire, emphasizes the basic concept that they feed each other and that every element in our world is interdependent on another element and does not exist as a separate element. For example, the water nourishes the earth and the trees nourish the fire, but at the same time, the water subdues the fire and the earth conquers the water. The last and surprising element, the emptiness, is the basis that allows the other elements to be in constant action and change.

The elements and the connections between them will be presented from a new perspective through the diverse works of a selection of Japanese artists and three Israeli artists. In a unique project, a bamboo installation will be erected on the patio of the museum that will correspond with the trees planted in it, by the bamboo artist Takayuki Shimizu who came to Israel from the bamboo town of Fu in southern Japan, especially for this purpose.

In an inspiring collaboration, the bamboo artist, Shimizu, and the veteran ceramic artist, Irit Abba, will create what represents "outside the box", through which they will examine the connection between two ceramic materials (earth) and bamboo. A "bounded garden" will be established in the space of the central gallery, which seeks to allude through visual means to the general atmosphere of a Japanese garden, in other words, of "mountain and water". In and around the "domain garden" video works, ink paintings, textiles and modern prints, inspired by him, will be shown.

In addition, Japanese video artists, Yuki Hirakawa and Katsunori Mizuno, will also present at the exhibition. In their works you can see how nature slowly changes and feel through them the impermanence of man within it; Textile artist Yael Harnik – creates, similar to Japanese ink paintings, a rich world of shades by using only one color, indigo.

Unusually, she dyes fabrics that challenge the technique and replaces the common cotton fabric with silk and velvet, which she creates using stencils she cuts herself; And the veteran artist Maya Cohen Levy – connects two Japanese traditions – ink painting and stencil art, inspired by them she produces peeled photographs, a kind of ink cutouts. Alongside their works will be presented a selection of modern and traditional works from the Tikotin Museum collection and the Itamar Procache collection, which include ink paintings depicting mountain and water landscapes and the person walking in them.

The variety of wonderful works allows one to experience an existential state of impermanence, fading and fragility. The curator of the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Dr. Etty Glass Gisis: "The exhibition invites visitors to stop and observe with patience and sensitivity the nature of which we are a part; To understand the deep connections that are created in it between traditional Japanese art, and modern and contemporary art and between Japanese artists and Israeli artists for whom Japanese aesthetics is a source of inspiration."

An interview can be arranged with the curator of the exhibition or with one of the artists by prior arrangement.

Opening of the exhibition: 25.05.23. Order tickets and information on opening hours on the Haifa Museums website.
Closing: November 2023.