About
Since opening its doors in 2017, the gallery has been both a stage and a home for artists in the fields of crafts and design, as well as a space for experiencing with materials and discussing the essence and place of traditional and contemporary craft making. The gallery was established by Adi Shabtai Pepo, director of the Ceramic and Crafts Association of Israel, and Nir Hermet, who was also the gallery’s curator from 2017 to 2019. In September 2020, Meirav Rahat was appointed the gallery’s new curator.
Located in lively south Tel Aviv with its many galleries and workspaces, B.Y5 gallery brings together craft and design artists and professionals from various fields, and the public who frequent the area. The gallery hosts solo, group and annual exhibitions of the association’s artists, artist meetings, lectures and content events—all with the aim of increasing exposure to the artistic activity in the fields of materials and craft.
As the gallery’s chief curator, Rahat aims to connect local histories and established designers with the field’s contemporary dynamism and young artists. By presenting multidisciplinary thinking on the essence of material and issues of material culture she hopes to transform the gallery into a base for practical and theoretical discussion that expands ways of looking at contemporary work and the cultural dialogue between past, present and future, tradition and technology, and the place of the creator and the creative act.
Association Goles
- To be a home for artists in the fields of craft and material culture in Israel.
- Uncover and cultivate new approaches, techniques and technologies of traditional and contemporary craft with a face to the future.
- Build a community of artists in order to promote knowledge, professionalism, broadening horizons and open, multidisciplinary discourse.
- Expose association members to contemporary work in Israel and around the world with the intention of encouraging multidisciplinary observation and intergenerational collaborations between artists, and diverse schools in various fields of crafts and materials.
- Develop and foster connections and collaborations among artists from the fields of crafts and materials in Israel and around the world in order to create a broad and enriching professional community.
- Hold events, meetings and projects with an emphasis on collaboration and with a view to exposing the local activity to a professional audience, collectors and the public.
Association Activities
The association organizes solo and group exhibitions, lectures, conferences, workshops and professional symposia, including:
Stage and home for artists in the ceramics, crafts and design fields.
An annual symposium that began in 1997, in which the audience is exposed to diverse work methods and techniques by Israeli and international artists through live demonstrations, lectures and workshops. The symposium is held every year in December in Givat Haviva (previously held at the Tel Hai Academy).
An annual workshop that has been held since 2006 in the cooperative community Neot Hakikar in the northern Arava, in collaboration with the Dead Sea Sodom Valley Association and local residents. The three-day workshop features a senior international ceramic artist teaching a unique work technique. The annual workshop convenes in February-March.
A semi-annual journal on ceramics published since 2001. The journal focuses on pottery, ceramic design and culture and includes documentation of the latest developments in the field of ceramics in Israel and abroad. Each issue includes a research article on Israeli ceramics and articles and interviews with both up-and-coming and established artists, as well as articles on international collaborations, and reviews of exhibitions and publications on technological developments in the field of ceramics.
The association has held the Ceramics Biennale since the early 2000s, and from 2020, it also includes other crafts areas, including glass, jewelry, textile and paper. Thanks to the collaboration with the Eretz Israel Museum, hundreds of thousands of visitors are exposed to cutting-edge Israeli design and craft.
The Maud Friedland Prize for Ceramic Art, established in 2012, is an honorary prize presented by the association once every two years. The prize is awarded to a leading artist in the field of ceramics to encourage creativity, innovation and contribution to the community. The prize was established through the generous donation of Mr. Alfred Friedland.
Meetings with artists and cultural figures from Israel and abroad who work in a variety of fields. The events take place in person as well as online.
- Annual subscription to 1280°: Journal of Material Culture
- Discounts on the association activities (symposium, Neot HaKikar and more)
- Priority for participation in exhibitions at the B.Y5 Gallery, the Biennale of Crafts & Design at the Eretz Israel Museum, and more
- Participation in fairs and workshops
- Discounts at Beit Binyamini workshops
- Museum Discounts
- Tel Aviv Museum – annual membership subscription 140 NIS (instead of 230 NIS). Senior citizens – 115 NIS
- Ein Harod Museum – 50% discount
- Israel Museum, Jerusalem – 15% discount
- On the Seam Museum, Jerusalem – Free admission
- Haifa Museums – 10 NIS entry
- Janko Dada Museum – 50% discount
- Ramat Gan Museum – Free admission
- The Wilfrid Israel Museum, HaZore’a – 10 NIS
- Rockefeller Museum – Free admission
- Beit Rishonoim Herzliya Historical Museum – 10 NIS
- Petah Tikva Museum of Art – 10 NIS
- Design Museum, Holon – 20% discount
- Eretz Israel Museum – Free admission
- Annual subscription to 1280°: Journal of Material Culture
- Discounts on the association activities (symposium, Neot HaKikar and more)
- Priority for participation in exhibitions at the B.Y5 Gallery, the Biennale of Crafts & Design at the Eretz Israel Museum, and more
- Participation in fairs and workshops
- Discounts at Beit Binyamini workshops
- Museum Discounts
- Tel Aviv Museum – annual membership subscription 140 NIS (instead of 230 NIS). Senior citizens – 115 NIS
- Ein Harod Museum – 50% discount
- Israel Museum, Jerusalem – 15% discount
- On the Seam Museum, Jerusalem – Free admission
- Haifa Museums – 10 NIS entry
- Janko Dada Museum – 50% discount
- Ramat Gan Museum – Free admission
- The Wilfrid Israel Museum, HaZore’a – 10 NIS
- Rockefeller Museum – Free admission
- Beit Rishonoim Herzliya Historical Museum – 10 NIS
- Petah Tikva Museum of Art – 10 NIS
- Design Museum, Holon – 20% discount
- Eretz Israel Museum – Free admission
Chairperson
Sigal Zuz is involved in various projects in the fields of the arts and crafts and is a collector of Israeli and international art. She was the deputy head of the Kfar Shmaryahu local council for fourteen years, during which she also headed the council’s culture department. In recent years, she has been involved in several projects and initiatives in the field of art and design (Fireflies, Walktalk) and is a member of the board of the Friends of the Herzliya Museum.
General Director
Adi Shabtai Pepo, director of the Association of Creative Artists in Israel since 2017, is a graduate of the Photography Department of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. She established and manages the B.Y5 Gallery for the Study of craft culture, produces the journal 1280°, initiates workshops, lectures, exhibitions outside of the gallery, fairs, collaborations and various projects in Israel and around the world. Adi specializes in both commercial and NGO management and production.
Board of Directors
Yonat Chameides is an artist working mainly in ceramics She has exhibited her work in Israel and around the world, including solo exhibitions. She previously served as chair of the association. Yonat has a studio in Herzliya. She has worked in commercial law for over twenty years.
Yoela Sharon is a ceramicist, who lives and and works in Tel Aviv. She is among the founders of the Three Thirty Gallery. She is a former chair of the association.
Revital Ben-Asher Peretz is the advisor to the mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa on art and public representative holder of the culture portfolio. She serves on the board of directors of eleven institutions and cultural bodies. She curates artistic projects at the Petach Tikva Museum of Art, Tel Aviv Museum, Beit Binyamini, Chelouche Gallery and is a lecturer at art academies and the founder of the studio for art studies for adults at the Artists’ House, Tel Aviv.
Pnina Rabinowitz managed the culture desk at the Kfar Shmaryahu local council from 2000 to 2019. Prior to that, she managed the culture department at the Nes Ziona Municipality. As part of her work, she developed diverse cultural programs in theater, music, dance and film.
B.Y5 Gallery Curator
Tal Frenkel Alroy Researcher, curator, creator. Holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew literature from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Lecturer at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in the Department of Visual and Material Culture, the Department of Ceramics and Glass Design, and the Department of Jewelry and Fashion. Also, a Lecturer at Shankar in the International Curatorial Design Studies. Researcher in the field of poetics. Regularly publishes books, articles, and essays in journals, research anthologies, and for art and design exhibitions. Guides and accompanies artists and designers in research processes for creation. A silversmith and jewelry designer whose works are sold and displayed in stores and exhibitions in Israel and around the world. A poet, the owner of the Studio for Thought, and an activist.