As part of "The Ark" project, eight artists who recently immigrated to Israel from Russian-speaking countries formed a creative group, bound by the shared backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the current political climate. Their collective sessions gave birth to diverse artistic projects, now on view at Schechter Gallery from June through September. Each focusing on a different aspect of migration and identity, the works took shape through a process of personal and collective inquiry.

The term "displacement" holds within it both the physical act of moving from one place to another and the emotional experience of estrangement and rootlessness. The works that form part of the current incubator trace these states and emotions through an engagement with shifting identity, a sense of being overwhelmed by bureaucracy, new information and language, and the attempt to connect a past left behind with a present still in the process of becoming.

The point of departure for this group of artists is the myth of Noah's Ark, which takes on contemporary urgency against a reality of war and uncertainty. The myth forges a connection between the participants' personal experiences and a broader collective experience of displacement, transition, and the search for stability. This invokes questions about the possibility of holding on to something while moving from place to place; about the difference between forced emigration and migration by choice; about the literal and symbolic baggage we carry; and about the ways in which one's identity is reshaped by immigration and the attempt to integrate into an unfamiliar space. The question of one's position within the flood narrative continues to resonate throughout the works as well: has the flood already ended, or are the participants still inside the Ark, in the midst of an ongoing journey of uncertainty, between a past left behind and an unclear future?

Alongside the myth of the Ark, the project also echoes the myth of the Ship of Theseus—an ancient philosophical paradox describing a ship whose parts were replaced one by one until not a single original piece remained. The story asks whether the altered ship is still the same ship. Drawing on this idea, different projects examine how immigration transforms personal identity: how some "original" parts of ourselves are preserved while others change, and what we carry forward even after the transition. In an unstable reality, a new place reshapes the sense of self, while cultural baggage, memories, and language persist and continue to exert their influence.

Participating artists: Asya Bobritskaya, Daria Elkonina, Mikhail Mokrushin, Alina Mikhaleva, Natalia Kamenetskaya, Irina Korotaeva, Theodor Ivanov, Lena Shtemberg 

Group facilitator and curator: Dina Yakerson