Amira Ziyan

Amira Ziyan (Arabic: أميرة زيان; born October 16, 1977) is an Israeli Druze photography artist and art teacher.

Early life Ziyan was born into a traditional Druze family in the village of Yarka, Israel. Both of her parents were religious. Ziyan has seven brothers and three sisters. As a child, she faced many restrictions as a woman, but despite these limitations, she decided to pursue higher education.

In 1999, she graduated as an industrial chemistry engineer from the Western Galilee College in Acre. In 2003, she received a teaching certificate in administration from the Weizmann Institute in Haifa.

In 2004, her father suffered a stroke. Her brother, who owned a photo development laboratory, was forced to replace her father at the concrete factory and asked her to help him in the photo shop. Working in the photo shop sparked her interest in the field and encouraged her to pursue it further. In 2007, she began studying for a bachelor's degree in art and French at the University of Haifa, which she completed in 2010. She continued her studies with a master's degree in art from the University of Haifa, which she completed in 2012. was another step in Ziyan's artistic journey, with her photographs revealing hidden layers in her immediate surroundings. Staged photography allows her to control its components and create a hidden space of both presence and absence. The sense of illusion evoked by the image is evident from the very first photograph in the exhibition, which shows a transparent figure seeming to dissipate towards a closed gate, inviting the viewer to follow in its footsteps towards an unknown reality. The series of works dealt with the phenomenon of reincarnation, a deeply rooted belief prevalent in the Druze community, to which Ziyan belongs. The Arabic term for reincarnation, "Takamus," means changing clothes, and it expresses the attitude towards the human body as a temporary vessel for the soul, which is born again and again. Ziyan's photographs are based on stories of remembrance that she collected among members of the Druze community. Most of them had sought in their childhood to meet members of their families from a previous incarnation and had managed to identify them and locate significant personal objects in a place that was known only to them and their family members in previous lives.

Exhibition

Selected solo exhibitions

2023 "Beyond", Tei-Hai Arts Institute, curators: curating: students for the curating course directed by Michal Shachnai 2023 "Prize exhibition", Gallery Fighters, Lohamei HaGeta'ot, curator: Michal Horvitz 2021 "To Know a Book", Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, curator: Shlomit Perry 2021 "Hidden", Amira Ziyan and Kobi Sibony, Kabri Gallery, Kibbutz Kabri, Israel, curator Avshalom Suliman (Dual Exhibitions) 2021 "A personal journey", State Comptroller Jerusalem, curator: Smadar Messing 2021 "Beyond the Body", Wilfrid Israel Museum, Kibbutz Hazorea, curator: Shir Meller- Yamagushi 2019 The Illuminated Beauty, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, curator, Leah Fish 2018 "Absence Parts", Ramot Menashe Art Gallery, curator: Miri Werner and Yonit Kadosh 2018 "Crystal Palace" Umm al-Fahm Art Gallery, Umm El Fahem, Israel, curator: Gilad Ofir 2017 "Houna ve Hounak", Amira Ziyan and Rami Tareef, Kabri Gallery, Kibbutz Kabri, Israel, curator: Anat Gatenio (Dual Exhibitions) 2016 "On Bare Concrete", Kabri Gallery, Kibbutz Kabri, Israel, curator: Avshalom Levi 2023 " an instinct to change things", Trotter & Sholer Gallery New York, curator: Alexis Mendoza 2023 "Tastes of Heaven", Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem, curators: Dr. Limor Yugman, Adi Namia- Cohen 2022 "Blazing Sun" Artspace Tel-Aviv, gallery in Kiryat HaMelacha, curator:Shira Friedman 2022 "Through the mirror", Wilfrid Israel Museum, Kibbutz Hazorea, curator: Shir Meller- Yamagushi 2022 "Ras Al Khaima art festival 2022"- central exhibition Longing, be- longing, Dubai, curator: Sharon Toval 2022 "Ne/Aga", Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem, curator: Alon Razgour 2021 "The Mediterranean Biennale" 4, Haifa, curator: Blue-Simeon Feinero and Avital Bar-Shai 2021 "International Women's Day Exhibition" – Office of the President of the State of Israel 2020 "My Body is a Monument", The African Studies Gallery, curator: Idit Toledano 2020 "The Moon Reflection on the Asphalt, Studio of Her Own, Jerrusalem, curator: Natalie Peselev Stern. 2020 "Tresspassing", The Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem, curator: Dr. Sigal Barkay 2020 "Holiday Dinner", The Beit Henkin Art Gallery in Kfar Yehoshua, curator: Neta Haber 2019 "Winners Exhibition" The Ashdod Museum of Art, curator:Yuval Bitton, Roni Cohen-Binyamini and Dafna Gazit 2019 "Tar and milk", Herman Struck Museum, Haifa, Curator: Svetlana Reingold 2018 "Territories Unraveled", Artist House Jerusalem, curator: Irena Gordon 2017 "Art Without Borders", Circle 1, Berlin, Germany, curator: Shirley Meshulam 2017 "Feminist Sculpture in Istael", Mané-Katz, Haifa, Israel, curator: Svetlana Reingold 2017 "Art Without Borders", Transform! Europe, Vienna, Austria, curator: Shirley Meshulam 2016 "To Be More than a Rock", P8 Contemporary Art Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel, curator: Sharon Tuval 2016 "Quest", The Open Museum of Photography, Tel Hai, Israel, curator: Roni Ben-Ari (traveling exhibition) 2016 "Textile – Territory – Text", Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ, USA, curator: Irena Gordon 2014 "To Cross the Sea", Minshar Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel, curator: Guy Raz 2013 "Museum Without Walls", Beit Hagefen Gallery, Haifa, curator: Yeala Hazut 2012 "Dialogue Encounter", Kabri Gallery, Kibbutz Kabri, Israel, curator: Drora Dekel

Awards

2022 Oscar Handler Award from Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot 2020 Honorable Mention in the Becky Dekel Award from the Association for the Study of Women's Art and Gender 2017 The Israel Ministry of Culture Creativity Encouragement Award 2010 High Achievement in Final Project Award by the Friends of the University of Haifa 2009 The Shpilman Award for Photography Students, The Shpilman Institute, Tel Aviv 2008 The Saar Efroni Artist Prize, Israel