On Monday, May 18, 2026 at 7:00 PM, an intriguing new art exhibition will open at the Hasmonean Heritage Museum. The exhibition, "The Spirit of Material," a group exhibition which articulates museum space and the archaeological exhibits within it.
The exhibition The Spirit of Material, presented at the Hasmonean Heritage Museum, brings to light the unique meeting point of the figure of the teacher-artist. In this identity, a constant dialogue takes place between two spaces of existence: the personal studio – a space of silence, gathering, and material exploration; and the educational space – a space of transmission, instilling values and dialogue with future generations. For the teacher-artists, the work is a multi-layered space in which the material carries a deep cultural and spiritual charge, and they serve as a living link in the continuum between past, present and future.
Ella Oppenheimer uses historical scales to weigh babies who have passed through her family for three generations, and on them she weaves a delicate glass “nest” in an action that examines the human attempt to measure abstract feelings such as memory and longing. In a similar spirit of exploring the inner space, Matan Ben-Tulila creates in his work “Floating” a space that lies in the middle between dream and reality. He suggests a new kind of rootedness that does not depend on a grip on the ground.
The connection to heritage and collective memory is woven throughout the exhibition through personal and critical perspectives. Yael Serlin explores fragmented Jewish communities and searches for their absent presence through the mapping of symbols and fragments of memory; in the video work “Tears,” she merges the Gaza landscape with ink drops washing down the window, creating a gaze that seeks to remember through pain and longing. Ella Cohen Vansover meanwhile, transforms her personal henna jewelry into an alchemical source of inspiration, fusing together family traditions of dowry and ceremonies with classical painting techniques reminiscent of the texture of lace.
The connection to place and landscape is reflected in the works of Naama Ansbacher Ginosar, who uses local soils and clay from the Jerusalem mountains in a landscape creation to tell the story of the Rift Valley, and of Einat Amir, who processes photographs of pottery into a sublimation print that stretches the time between the rift and the whole.
In the "Findings" series, Kalil Wexler acts as a kind of archaeologist from the future; she pours plaster directly onto the forest floor in the vicinity of Jerusalem and embeds ancient pottery alongside the footprints of her own body, an action that turns the ground into a silent material testimony to the tensions between the past and urban development.
The symbolic space of the exhibition also expands into the worlds of mythology and ritual. Ayala Landau combines ceramics, textiles, and painting into a space that gives weight to abstract thought, while examining symbols of feminine worship and a journey of maturation and healing. In contrast to the ceremonial restraint, Maya Israel presents a confrontation between the archetypal tranquility of a seascape and a turbulent visual drama; through a self-portrait that undergoes camouflage and repression, she builds an imaginary world on the foundations of a figure that has fallen apart, and invites one to find order and new vitality in the midst of chaos.
The choice to display these works in a museum space dedicated to heritage intensifies the discourse on continuity. The teacher-artist is the one who explores the roots in the studio and re-sprouts them in the field of education, inviting visitors to linger in the dialogue between the working hand and the creative spirit.
The Spirit of Matter is the sixth exhibition in the framework of MOMO Contemporary Art at the Modi'in Hasmonean Heritage Museum.
Participating artists:
Hanan Abu Hussein, Hanna Edrei, Ella Oppenheimer, Einat Amir, Naama Ansbacher Ginosar,
Matan Ben Tulila, Kalil Wexler, Maya Israel, Levia Cohen, Ella Cohen Vansover, Noa Leibel, Ayala Landau,
Miriam Monk, Gila Miller, Nadia Adina Rose, Naama Paz, Yael Serlin, Naama Rosenfeld, Uziel Renchal
Curators: Meirav Shai and Anat Rosenbaum
Hasmonean Heritage Museum, Modi'in / 24 Blood of the Maccabees, Modi'in Maccabees Re'ut / 08-9737344 /
Meirav Shai 052-4284408
Opening hours: Sunday closed, Monday 16:00-20:00, Tuesday: 10:00-18:00, Wednesday 10:00-16:00
Thursday 10:00-18:00, Friday and Saturday 10:30-13:30
The exhibition will close on 12 Sept 2026
