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Bezalel 2024 | End of Year Review
As 2024 draws to a close, here is a brief summary of what happened at Bezalel over the past year:
Awards and Achievements
Bezalel is proud of the impressive achievements of its students, faculty, and alumni, who continue to lead in the fields of art, design, and architecture in Israel and around the world. Over the past year, many of them have won prestigious prizes and grants, in recognition of their skills and commitment as inventors, creators, and innovators.
Among the international prize winners:
Department of Photography alumna Yael Bartana was selected as the art world’s third most influential figure.
Yuval Markovich, Alon Simon, and Oren Rubin, graduates of the Department of Screen-based Arts, are the winners of the 2024 Apple Design Award (ADA) for Innovation for their game 'Lost in Play'.
Department of Industrial Design graduates Eva Benamou and Nir Neria won the One&Twenty 'World's Best Design Talents' award, on behalf of the German Design Council.
Final project 'Breaking News' by Danil Bialo, Tamir Herzberg and Evyatar Cohen won the main prize at the Figgie Indie Games Festival in Boston.
Perla Sibani, a graduate of the Department of Jewelry and Fashion at Bezalel, won the Pierre Cardin Young Designer Award.
Department of Visual Communication graduates Dan Karsenti, Alon Avrahami, Ophir Sherif and Noa Lev won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award in the Children and Toddlers category.
Prize winners in the local arena:
All of this year’s winners of the Edmond de Rothschild Award are Bezalel graduates and lecturers: Prof. Merav Salomon, Michal Sahar, Yoav Perry, Almog Sella and Itamar Toren (True Twins Studio). Nawal Arafat, lecturer in the Department of Visual Communication, received an honorable mention.
Bezalel graduates are winners of the Ministry of Culture prizes in the field of art:
The Prize for Lifetime Achievement was awarded to multidisciplinary artist Moti Mizrahi.
The Prize for Creators in the Field of Design was awarded to designers Yoav Perry and Dan Ozeri.
The Prize for Young Artist was awarded to artists Ron Asulin, Mor Afgin, Niv Fridman, Itamar Stamler, Yakira Ament, Uri Weinstein and Kareem Natur.
The Prize to Encourage Creativity was presented to artists Reut Asimini, Michal Baror, Efrat Klipshtein, Rachel Kopilovitch Rabinovitch, Eshchar Hanoch Kliengbiel and Yuval Atzili.
Ohad Milstein, a graduate of the Master’s Program in Fine Arts and lecturer in the Department of Screen-Based Arts, won the Ministry of Culture Prize to Encourage of Creativity in the Field of Cinema.
Graduates of the School of Architecture won the Ministry of Health’s 'Between the Drops' design competition.
Graduates and students of the School of Architecture are this year’s winners of the 'Dori Award' for Innovative Israeli Architecture. Second place went to Professor Yuval Yadlin, and honorable mentions went to Professor Dvir Mor Shoshani, Professor Libat Eden, and Professor Nir Feferberg, and students Shiran Mordechai, Dean Levy, and Yonatan Hai Arad.
Yuval Naor, a graduate of the Department of Photography, won the 'Israel Makov' Most Promising Artist Award for 2024.
Jenny Meilihove, a graduate of the Department of Visual Communication, is the winner of the Israel Museum's 'Ben-Yitzhak Award' for the illustration of a Children’s Book. Honorable mentions were awarded to Michal Bonanno, Anat Warshavsky and Shmarit Elkanati, lecturers in the department, and graduate Maya Shleifer.
Prof. Yehudit Sasportas, senior lecturer in the Department of Fine Arts and the Master’s Program in Fine Arts, won the 'Tsila Yaron Prize' for Israeli Art for 2024.
Omri Danino, a graduate of the Department of Fine Arts and the Master’s Program in Fine Arts, Ariel Hacohen, a graduate of the Department of Photography, and Naama Shohet, a graduate of the Department of Screen-Based Arts, are the winners of the 2024 'Rappaport Prize for Art' in Times of War.
Talia Tokatli, retired senior lecturer in the Department of Ceramics and Glass Design, won the Ministry of Culture’s 'Arik Einstein Memorial Prize' for Senior Artists.
Artist Yan Bolotov, a graduate of the Master’s Program in Fine Arts, is the winner of the 2024 'Rywkind Ben Zour Prize' in collaboration with the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
Ron Asulin, a graduate with honors of the Department of Fine Arts, is the 2024 winner of the Ilana 'Elovic - Bezalel Prize for Excellence in the Arts'.
Naama Eliraz and Elia Bloch, graduates of the Department of Ceramics and Glass Design, and Lior Elbaz, a graduate of the Department of Jewelry and Fashion, are the winners of the '2024 Andy Prize 2.0'.
Read more about prizes and achievements in the international and local field
Bezalel at the Oscars
'Letter to a Pig', an animated film by director Tal Kantor, a graduate and lecturer in the Department of Screen-based Arts, was announced earlier this year as a candidate for the Oscar in the Best Animated Short Film category. Recently, two short animated films by Bezalel graduates Lee Dror and Dafna Avedish Golan, were selected for the Oscar longlist in the Animated Short Film and Documentary categories, respectively.
Bezalel Graduates Exhibition
Each year, at the end of the academic year, Bezalel opens its doors to the public for an exhibition showcasing the work of the Academy’s graduates from all departments. This is the largest exhibition of its kind in Israel, in which recent graduates present their works in the fields of art, design and architecture.
This year, the exhibition took place in the shadow of war and political crisis. Traces of current events were discernable among the variety of projects presenting groundbreaking ideas, technological innovation, and traditional skills. The exceptional joining of the impressive array of projects into this exhibition is a living testament to the powers of the imagination and creativity and their ability to give hope for change.
Explore the 2024 Graduates' Website
Simultaneously – Creation in Wartime
As part of the graduate exhibition, the Clore Arts and Design Gallery presented an exhibition curated by Bezalel’s president Prof. Adi Stern, and Ilanit Konopny, head of the Curatorial Studies track in the Master’s Program in Policy and Theory of the Arts.
The works in the exhibition testify to the personal and collective rupture after October 7th and express the intensity of the grief and trauma that deeply penetrated the lives of all of us. At the same time, they offer a layered visual expression of emotions and attempts to mend the breaks at home and in the public space.
The Yakir Bezalel Award
The Yakir Bezalel Award, equivalent to the “Honorary Doctorate” degree awarded by universities, is bestowed on those whom the Bezalel Academy wishes to honor and thank for their unique contribution to Bezalel in particular, and for their work and contribution to Israeli society and the advancement of the fields of art, design, and Israeli culture in Israel and around the world in general.
This award—the highest honor awarded by the Academy—has become an important tradition. This year, the Yakir Bezalel Award was presented to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Prof. Aharon Barak, Mr. Ilan Kaufthal, and artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles.
Conferences and Seminars
During the past year, a variety of events in various fields, which allowed for in-depth study of current and innovative topics, provided a place for stimulating critical discourse and thinking, and encouraging collaboration between professionals from industry and academia.
In addition, a support and guidance program for participation in international academic and professional conferences was established by the Teaching Center, the Research and Innovation Authority, the Office of International Academic Relations, and the Leadership Workshop for First-Generation Students in Higher Education.
Read more about the variety of conferences and seminars
Community activities
Throughout its existence, Bezalel sees itself as an integral part of the surrounding community, and even more so during this period. Over the past year, the Academy community took part in social and community projects designed to promote values of equality, sustainability, and create educational and cultural connections with diverse populations.
Among the initiatives:
A community garden at Bezalel continuing the path of farmer Gadi Mozes kidnapped from Nir Oz; a School studio course of the Bezalel Fellows Program that brings together an active and influential group of creators to form an infrastructure for educational, cultural and artistic entrepreneurship in Jerusalem; a collaboration with Tana Yeurshalmi combining living in the city center with community and social action; and the Florence Project, Bezalel’s design and innovation studio operating within Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, integrating design solutions for human experiences in the hospital.
