Gold Leafs /

Gold leaves

A leaf of gold flying with the wind,
A leaf of gold like a light-winged butterfly.
In protection, on the flat path,
We found the cattle a carpet of gold.

She takes off her parrot clothes,
Fig trees remove perfume.
Some birds with the first casting
Leaving cloudy and flying somewhere.

Lea Goldberg

Leah Goldberg's seemingly innocent poetry describes the changing seasons and the arrival of autumn. The light words abound in connotations of light and radiance, and seem to lead the reader with the leaf flying in the wind to the golden carpet created by the autumn leaves. Autumn brings with it renewal: the golden leaves falling from the trees herald germination and regrowth, and constitute a metaphor for life changes, renewal and bloom, and victory over the annihilation and extermination, the fate of every healthy creature.

A crown of golden leaves symbolized another victory in the ancient world: the crown of the corona was awarded as a sign of heroism and honor to the warriors who defeated the enemy. The heroism, the victory, the human transcendence, the renewal and the bloom are embedded however, in different contexts, the golden ones.

The desire to regenerate and re-grow has become the focus of universal human hope since the outbreak of the corona plague, almost two years ago. The plague brought with it a new awareness of the relationship between nature and man, of man's aspiration to overcome nature and defeat it, and of a general desire to overcome evil and multiply the good in the universe.

The golden leaves are the subject of an exhibition, which, not by chance, is presented in the autumn. This is the fall of a new year, after a difficult period: a year of hopes for victory over an epidemic that has changed world orders; A year of hopes for growth and flowering and paving a new path, as a symbolic carpet of golden leaves.

The golden leaves for their various symbolism and connections to nature, victory, or renewal, are given a diverse expression in the work of the artists:

Fresh leaves in animalistic naturalistic depictions; Fallen leaves fly in the wind; Gilded leaves on sensual crimson backgrounds; Inlay of gold leaves in crown images; Sensitive pencil and charcoal drawings in which stalks and leaves curl; Defines butterflies, plants and insects of the Land of Israel from a personal point of view as attempts to define the essence of nature; And dough leaves glow in the light and thus seemingly become golden leaves. Viewers are invited to observe and reflect as a means of renewal, in the fall of the opening of a charged year.

Dr. Nava Sevilla Field

Curator

Yael Eshhar Avni / Dror Ben Ami / Hadar Gad / Nurit Gur Lavie /

Bracha Guy / Eric Vanunu / Shuli Bornstein Wolf /

Eliezer Sonnenschein / Avivit Segal