Ministry of Sports & Cultures Honors Beit Berl Lecturers, Graduates and Students

​Beit Berl’s Faculty of Arts-HaMidrasha lecturers Oren Eliav, Orly Sever and Ayelet Carmi were awarded the Ministry of Culture and Sport’s most prestigious award, Prize for Best Design for 2017. The prize recognizes the artist and his/her creations, and expresses appreciation for his/her contribution to Israeli society. The judges were explicit in their reasoning for selecting Eliav, Sever and Carmi:

​   
Artwork by Shahar Yahalom.

The art of Oren Eliav stems from a thorough examination of Baroque art, with all its complexity. His virtuoso works express the artist's profound process, drawing attention to flashes of light, changing textures and optical illusions that create a powerful and moving look. Eliav's special engagement in religious and artistic relations, in the arrays of hidden beauty and in the evasiveness of the concept of time, motivated us to choose it properly for a prize.

The work of Orly Sever belongs mainly to the field of sculpture and installation. Her works are influenced by the space she treats using unusual materials. The challenge in her work is expressed in the way she relates to the exhibition space and the presence of viewers in this space. The monumental impression of her works and the industrial materials she uses expresses both power and restraint. The judges panel was impressed by the tension between the seller and the stranger in Sever's work, as well as by the dimension of surprise she uses to delay the gaze on the elements of the visual work, and therefore decided to award her the prize.

Ayelet Carmi's work is multidisciplinary and has an impressive aesthetic appearance. Her work cites scientific studies, such as that of Leonardo da Vinci in aviation and research on familiar and foreign machine parts. The combination between the machine and the person, and the delicate appearance of the layered design, create a familiar and strange impression at the same time. Translating the mirror into the media of video art intensifies the tension between reality and fantasy, and is another stage in her fascinating work. The prize committee was impressed by the stylistic and conceptual sophistication of the works.

Beit Berl Faculty of Arts-HaMidrasha graduates Dor Zlekha Levy and Noam Omer were awarded the prize for Best Young Artist in the field of Plastic Arts, and Lecturer Shahar Yahalom and Graduate Shirley Wagner awarded the prize for Inspiring Creativity in the field of Plastic Arts.