Common Ground

Over the years, many artists have sought to understand the present by deciphering the past, incorporating or addressing ancient culture in their work in diverse ways. The exhibition Common Ground dissolves the barrier between archaeology and fine arts, as recent Museum acquisitions of Israeli art are interwoven with ancient artifacts from the collection – most displayed for the first time.

The exhibition presents archaeological finds spanning millennia, in materials such as stone, pottery, wood, and metal, alongside contemporary drawings, sculptures, video works, photographs, and installation art. All of these explore age-old subjects like mortality, the strength and weakness of the human body; relationships between people; and belief in transcendent forces. What joins them together is a shared visual or material language. An invisible thread seems to lead from one work to the next, bridging the millennia and revealing a wealth of links and associations.

In the exhibition, ancient objects of archaeology complement and enrich our understanding of recent artworks. Sparking surprising connections, the creativity of the distant past and immediate present meets on common ground to inspire us with faith in the human spirit.  

Artists: Ron Amir, Maya Attoun, Ilit Azoulay, Michal BarOr, Hilla Ben Ari, Deganit Berest, Miriam Cabessa, Ayelet Carmi, Chen Cohen, Gilad Efrat, Maayan Elyakim, Assaf Evron, Hamutal Fishman, Efrat Hakimi, Meirav Heiman, Menashe Kadishman, Miki Kratsman, Shai Kremer, Sigalit Landau, Netta Lieber Sheffer, Maria Saleh Mahameed, Ruth Patir, Hillel Roman, Elham Rokni, Karen Russo, Avi Sabah, Merav Salomon, Netally Schlosser, Etty Schwartz, Orit Siman-Tov, Micha Ullman, Amon Yariv, Addam Yekutieli (Know Hope), Noa Yekutieli

Netta Lieber Sheffer, Order of Priorities, 2023. Pastel pencil on paper

Purchase, “Here & Now” Contemporary Israeli Art Acquisitions Committee, Israel

Photo: Avi Amsalem

Ilit Azoulay, Queendom (Panel 4), 2022. Inkjet print

Purchase, “Here & Now” Contemporary Israeli Art Acquisitions Committee, Israel

Photo courtesy of Braverman Gallery

Ayelet Carmi and Meirav Heiman, The Israel Trail: The Procession, 2018. Still from multichannel video installation

Purchase, “Here & Now” Contemporary Israeli Art Acquisitions Committee, Israel

Photo: Ilan Sharif

Upper part of a statue of the god Bes, Egypt, Roman period, 1st century CE. Pottery

Gift of Abraham Guterman, New York, to American Friends of the Israel Museum

Lower part of a statue of the god Bes, Beth Shemesh, Iron Age II, 7th century BCE. Limestone

Extended loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority

Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, by Zohar Shemesh

Stone mask, Peni-Hever, Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period, 8th millennium BCE. Red dolomitic limestone

Staff Officer for Archaeology – Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria

Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, by Zohar Shemesh

The exhibition was made possible by