|
|
Backgammon NewsMay 25, 2008Backgammon Boards Exhibition"The Art of Reconciliation" is a special traveling art exhibition that shows more than 60 artistic backgammon boards. Sponsored by Play65, the backgammon art exhibition was founded in the honor of Israel's 60th anniversary. Starting out in Washington DC following Israel's Independence Day, the exhibition next destinations will be New York, Los Angeles, and Israel. The full exhibition with the artists' statement and biographies can be seen on "The Art of Reconciliation" website. 62 Israeli artists were challenged by the exhibition curators, Ayelet Biran and Doron Polak, and were asked to give their private interpretation to the backgammon board and abstract concepts such as "The Art of Reconciliation" while putting in mind Israel's 60th anniversary. The result is a variant collection of ideas, techniques and themes: from classic oil painting (on a wooden backgammon board) to mixed media and found objects such as locks of hair or magazine pictures of Middle Eastern leaders. Many of the participating artists did refer to the backgammon game in their wrought backgammon boards. Hadas Levy, for example, painted a clenched feast on one side of the board and two hands in a praying position on the other one, together symbolize "the double game 'backgammon' and the issue of appeasement". Haya Graetz Ran, who described backgammon as "a masculine game", had "implanted drawings of wrestling men". However, most of the artworks drew away from the original backgammon board and treated it like a standard background. In the exhibition text, written by the curators and producers Ayelet Biran and Doron Polak, they described the backgammon game as a symbol to "the desire for reconciliation and understanding between opponents in two ways… Backgammon – more than a game where the purpose is to win – symbolizes a chance for a cultural and creative meeting, and time to open the heart…".
Hadas Levy Backgammon Board
Haya Graetz Ran Backgammon Art |
