Displaced: Raida Adon's Strangeness

“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.” —Raida Adon.

Displaced: Raida Adon’s Strangeness presents Raida Adon’s first solo exhibition in the United States and first museum show outside of Israel. 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.

Her 2018 video Strangeness, prominently featured in this exhibition, invokes experiences of displacement, as well as enduring journeys in search of Home. Interweaving a rich array of archetypal, historical, and biographical threads, Strangeness creates riveting audiovisual fabrics, which reflect human fragility and resilience, agony and hope. The work unveils harsh truths about our broken world through the prism of Adon’s unique, unbridled imagination.

Watch the trailer for Strangeness

Raida Adon, Strangeness, 2018. Digital video, 33:30 min., Trailer. Courtesy of the artist.

Displaced is curated by Dr. Gannit Ankori, Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator of the Rose Art Museum and Professor of Fine Arts and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University, with significant contributions by Anna Kovacs, Deputy Director of Collections and Exhibitions.

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