The collective community, or kibbutz, of Givat Haim, founded in 1932 near Hadera, Israel split in two following a 1952 conflict within the group. Traditionally a tightly knit group of people living and working together in Israel, the kibbutz pools their resources and family life, living together on a socialist commune. In 1952, ideological differences between supporters of the two main socialist parties separated Givat Haim and they split into Givat Haim (Ihud) and Givat Haim (Meuhad), living nearby but uncommunicative for decades. In a 2013 exhibition, artist Noa Yekutieli draws on concepts borrowed from the 1952 kibbutz split to take up more universalized notions of what takes place in the cracks of broken relationships. Although continuing to live in close proximity, the silence between the groups over time created distance and lingering animosity remained. Sourcing an archival photograph taken just hours before the Givat Haim kibbutz split, Yekutieli fractures the scene with her signature paper-cutting to illustrate the separate-yet-together moments of the group’s rupture. A collection of containers from both sides form a small huddle on the gallery floor and walls mimicking the once convening bodies of a Givat Haim meeting in a circle. By dissecting the original archival image that was taken prior to the split, the installation renders absences caused by the division visible.
