Rose Art Museum presents Artist Raida Adon in First-ever Solo U.S. Museum Show

(Waltham, Mass. March 2022) – The Rose Art Museum presents Displaced: Raida Adon’s Strangeness on view through July 24, 2022. Born into a multi-faith Palestinian family in the bi-national city of Acre, Israel, Raida Adon is an acclaimed multi-media artist, television, theater and film actress, and director.​ Curated by Dr. Gannit Ankori, Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator, Displaced: Raida Adon’s Strangeness is the artist’s first solo exhibition in the United States and first museum show outside of Israel. Adon’s powerful, immersive 33:30 minute video Strangeness (2018) is at the center of the exhibition.

“We are delighted and honored to host Raida Adon at the Rose Art Museum for her first U.S. solo show and her first museum exhibition outside of Israel. Adon’s video invokes experiences of displacement and enduring journeys in search of Home. Interweaving a rich array of archetypal, historical, and biographical threads, Strangeness unveils harsh truths about our broken world through the prism of Adon’s unique, unbridled imagination,” said Dr. Ankori.

Prominent scenes from the video draw inspiration from diverse cultural sources, including Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Catholic rituals and imagery, and Shakespeare’s drowning Ophelia. The soundtrack, which includes a Romanian lullaby and a song by Egyptian singer ​​Laila Murad, amplifies the video’s themes. At the same time, Adon directly references 20th and 21st century documentary photographs of Jewish, Palestinian, Syrian, and European refugees.

Adon stated: “My art addresses my personal experiences, my own body, the harsh and oppressive political situation in which I exist. But my art is also very much impacted by timeless spiritual concerns and the immense mystery of human existence, images that come to me in my dreams, my nightmares, my imagination.”

Adon’s video productions do not employ scripts, texts, or dialogue, nor do they narrate linear plots. Instead, the artist entices her audience to enter an alternative universe of sights and sounds, arid and lush landscapes, lit and shadowy skies. Dr. Ankori explained: “Adon brings us into a world where human beings reflect and resemble one another in their most basic and profound yearnings. Strangeness is about loneliness, displacement, and a longing to belong.”

In addition to Displaced: Raida Adon’s Strangeness, Adon will present a related live performance on April 13, 2022, at 6 PM during her residency, April 10 -14, 2022.

Raida Adon’s exhibition, performance, and residency at the Rose Art Museum are generously supported by Artis, Jolie Schwab ’78 and David Hodes ’77, and Brandeis University co-sponsors: the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, the Department of Fine Arts, and the Edie and Lew Wasserman Fund.

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Raida Adon (She/Her) (b. Acre, Israel, 1972) is an Israeli-born Palestinian multi-media artist whose artworks emerge from her complex biography, addressing conflicted nations and the relationship between interrelated societies. Adon is also an acclaimed television and film actress, currently starring in The Girl from Oslo (2022) on Netflix. 

Several international galleries and museums have featured Adon’s artwork, including The Israel Museum (Jerusalem, Israel), Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Tel Aviv, Israel), Mana Contemporary (Jersey City, New Jersey), Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (Tokyo, Japan), and Philip Van Rosen Gallery (Cologne, Germany). Adon is a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. She lives and works in Tel Aviv-Jaffa.

 

ABOUT THE ROSE ART MUSEUM AT BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

 Founded in 1961, the Rose Art Museum is one of the nation’s preeminent university art museums. Through its exceptional collection, support of emerging artists, and innovative programming, the museum serves as a nexus for communities, art, and social justice for Brandeis University and beyond. Recent acquisitions to its permanent collection include works by Radcliffe Bailey, Jamal Cyrus, Renee Cox, Jeffrey Gibson, Barkley Hendricks, Jenny Holzer, Yoko Ono, Joe Overstreet, Adam Pendleton, Wang Quingsong, Betye Saar. Located just 20 minutes from downtown Boston, the Rose Art Museum is open to all, and admission is always free.  

For more information, visit www.brandeis.edu/rose, or call 508.612.5128. Follow the Rose Art Museum on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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