Department of Photography
המחלקה לצילום
قسم التصوير الفوتوغرافي
David Adika is a photographer, artist, and Head of the Photography Department at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem. A senior lecturer in the Department of Photography since 1999, he holds bachelor’s (BFA) and master’s (MFA) degrees from Bezalel.
David Adika’s work focuses on the visual and cultural facets of the local Middle Eastern space as a microcosm that reflects his social and family identity. His photographic corpus contains representations of various still life and portraits, blurring the boundaries between abstract conceptual language and lavish visual accuracy. Adika’s visual research explores intimate yet universal biographies, while the photographs unfold familiar and unfamiliar aspects of everyday life and highlight questions of taste and social status.
Adika has had many solo exhibitions in Israeli and international venues, among them Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Art Museum in Riga, Latvia, Bologna MUSEI, Casa Morandi, Italy, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, and Braverman Gallery in Tel Aviv. He has won many awards, including the Minister and the Emerging Artist Prizes from the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and the Jack Nailor Award for Photography. His photographs are included in many collections, such as the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Haifa Museum of Art, Petach Tikva Museum of Art, Casa Morandi in Italy, the Knesset and private collections in Israel and abroad.
He lives in Jaffa and works in Jerusalem
Dr. Itzhak Benyamini teaches at Bar-Ilan University and at Bezalel Academy. He is editor of Resling publishing. Authored the following books in Hebrew: What Does the Man Want? (2003), Paul and the Birth of the Sons' Community (2007), Lacan's Discourse (2009), The Laughter of Abraham (2011), and Subject-Screen (2018); in English: Narcissist Universalism (2012), A Critical Theology of Genesis (2016).
Tami Berenstein is an award-winning international animation and documentary director, concept artist, animator and illustrator.
She started working in Telad’s promo department while still a student in the academy, after winning a promo competition in her first year. Since her graduation, she specialized in various aspects of her field, such as developing TV channels, conceptual branding, developing and directing animation series, computer games, and children’s books.
Berenstein created TV series that aired on 85 channels around the world and have millions of online views, including “Cuddlies,” for which she was also nominated for the Chicago International Children's Film Festival and won an ASIF award for Israeli animation.
Her own non-commercial work has been featured in festivals all over the world, and includes the indie film “Drawing of the Inevitable,” created in collaboration with cellist Maya Belsitzman. In 2018 she created the animation project at the Israel Opera with the Revolution Orchestra.
In 2016 she founded and curated the international animation festival AniNation – Jerusalem, which attracts some 7,000 viewers every year. The successful festival is held at the Jerusalem Cinematheque and throughout Jerusalem, with an emphasis on adult animation and artist workshops, VR and animation installations, including at the YMCA Sports Center.
Berenstein has served as the chief animation elector and senior advisor for the Gesher Multicultural Film Fund as well as HaPais Council for the Culture and Arts. She established The Scene incubator of the Project for Cinema and Television in Jerusalem and was nominated for an Ophir award for a documentary script. She was the first women named “Animix Festival Notable,” the highest award in the field of animation in Israel. She is the mother of Carmi and the life-partner of Shirley.