Michal Helfman
Running out of history
Opening: Tuesday, 26.1.16, 18–21 h, with an introduction by the artist at 19 h
Running out of History is a new fictional video work by Israeli artist Michal Helfman. It features two sets of dialogs that revolve around the activist G., an Israeli woman who is the founder and head of a NGO which provides humanitarian aid to populations in crisis. During the last four years the NGO has been smuggling humanitarian aid to the besieged population in Syria. The work examines the concept of “smuggling” as both a concrete activist tool and as a metaphor for the artistic act, which constantly traces alternative paths within existing orders.
The film, structured as a dialog, begins with a conversation between G. and Rassan, her Syrian collaborator, who she worked with undercover over a year and a half. It reenacts the dramatic night when G. revealed her Israeli identity to Rassan, her Syrian counterpart. The second dialog is a conversation between G. and the artist, addressing the differences between activism and art as well as the two women’s common aim of influencing reality through their work. The two have collaborated in the past with a long-term exchange of stories, discussing each other’s practices and the differences between their two disciplines. In the video, their conversation takes the form of an interview, and is present as the soundtrack.
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Running out of History is supported by the Pais Council for Culture and Arts; Collection Hoche Partners Trust Services S.A.; Jacques and Myriam Salomon, Paris; Ultimaker; and Mafil Ltd.