2021 – האחד, היחיד והיחד

In these challenging days that all of humanity is going through, every person is faced with profound existential questions. The new reality of dealing with "isolation", "closure", "social distance", "masks" as well as the closure of educational and cultural institutions, businesses, sports, and even the closure of religious and community institutions around the world, has changed our perception of the reality around us, and we are faced with the daily choices between thoughts of debilitating fear – and a positive consciousness, of hope, security and faith.

In this exhibition we will deal with the question of the interrelationship between three dynamic circles that hold an infinity of meeting points: the individual, the group and the One.

The individual – is each person on his own, with his personal choices in relation to his health, his physical and spiritual place in the world, and especially each person's choices in relation to his own consciousness, occupation and practice, his time management, his personal activities for himself and for the ones around him.

In the new reality created by the global pandemic, each individual is perceived on the one hand as a potential "danger" to all of humanity, as someone who carries in his body, knowingly or unknowingly, an unknown and disappearing virus – and on the other hand every individual constitutes a great hope of finding new ways to prevent the spread of the plague, new ways of healing and complete recovery. From this reality it follows that each individual has a great personal responsibility, not only for maintaining his health and personal well-being but also his responsibility for the human circles around him.

The Group – The human togetherness starts from the small circles of human connections, starting from simple person-to-person friendships, married life, expanding into the small nuclear family like parents, children and siblings, and growing into extended family circles, which also include grandparents, grandchildren, uncles and cousins on all sides. The circles of togetherness then grow beyond the family to the circles of belonging to a specific congregation, then a wider community, to more comprehensive circles of religion and nationality, and finally to the widest circles of all mankind.

The existential and fundamental question is how does the "individual" perceive himself in relation to the "group"? What is the feeling of the individual in relation to the whole? How much he feels he has a mission and a commitment as an "individual" in relation to all the ever-expanding circles of the "together." Does the "individual" feel alienated, lonely and an outcast, or, on the contrary, does he have feelings of belonging, influencing and responsibility for all the circles of the "together" around him?

In addition to these two human elements – the "individual" and the "together"  – another circle exists:

The one – the Divine, Supreme element, the only "One", the Creator of the world, who oversees under private control over his whole world, re-animates and constitutes the inanimate, the vegetative, the living and the human at every moment anew. The "One" who is accessible every split second to every "individual" and to every "group" who turns to Him and asks for His help. He is always present, alive and present to anyone who is willing to direct his consciousness to Him.

In this exhibition we will deal with existential questions, conflicts, moments of crisis and difficulty as well as times of hope, faith and success in the many meetings of these three circles of the individual, the group and the One.

Dr. Nurit Sirkis Bank