Georges Adéagbo: Africa in Jerusalem

Benin-based artist Georges Adéagbo creates a site-specific installation for the Israel Museum’s Focus Gallery. A strong, distinctive voice in the contemporary art world since the mid-1990s, Adéagbo’s floor and wall installations present a complex network of concepts and associations reflected in materials collected during extensive stays in Israel and Benin. Using his own texts, found objects, and books, as well as paintings and sculptures created by his studio colleagues in Cotonou, Adéagbo constructs complex collages—termed by him as “Horizontal Archaeology”—that explore how individuals interpret cultures and the history of a place based on their own experiences. For his installation at the Israel Museum, the artist traveled throughout Israel, merging findings from his trip with his own idiosyncratic narratives and visual associations.

The exhibition is curated by Rita Kersting, Landeau Family Curator of Contemporary Art.