“Umbilicus”

Umbilicus is a multifaceted and multisensory exhibition: Physically and metaphysically. It creates symbolic systems both personal and universal and connects them to the concepts of umbilicus: A central axis, the world. Distilling ideas central to the practice of each artist and connecting them as a group, this exhibition uses various mediums to bridge body and environment: Video, painting, installation, and sound. Works of Hannan Abu-Hussein, Sharon Balaban, Matan Daskal, Yehudit Sasportas, Sahar Azimi, Meirav Shin Ben-Alon, and Lihi Turjeman interweave and operate synergistically in the Kishle space, a structure that encapsulates 2800 years of Jerusalem’s history. This narrow, arched structure, 450 meters long, contained former prison cells with graffiti etchings by Etzel prisoners from the British Mandate period, remnants of the majestic Ottoman walls, foundations of King Herod’s palace, archaeological finds dating back to the Hasmonean period 2200 years ago, and deep underground, a massive wall from the time of the kings of Judea during the First Temple period (8th century BCE).

The Latin concept “Umbilicus Mundi” signifies the navel, or the spiritual and cosmological center of the world. It is a variation of the Greek “Omphalos”—a powerful artifact believed to allow direct communication with the gods, the source of the Delphic Oracle. Jewish tradition places the origin of creation in Jerusalem—it being the origin point of creation and the central reference point for the geographical, physical, world: “…just as the navel is located in the middle of a person, so the Land of Israel is the navel of the world. As it is said: ‘those who dwell at the navel of the earth’ (Ezekiel 38:12). The Land of Israel sits at the center of the world, and Jerusalem at the center of the Land of Israel, and the Temple at the center of Jerusalem, and the sanctuary at the center of the Temple, and the Ark at the center of the sanctuary, and the Foundation Stone before the sanctuary, from which the world was founded” (Midrash Tanchuma, Kedoshim 10). A later local version of the omphalos can be found in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem—confirming the Judeo-Christian belief that Jerusalem is the center of the universe. According to Muslim traditions, the rock identified as the Foundation Stone or the Noble Rock (in Arabic الصخرة المشرفة, al-Saḵrah al-Mušarrafah)is the rock at the center of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. It is also known as the Pierced Stone. A small hole on the southeastern corner enters a cavern beneath the rock, known as the Well of Souls, the mythic source of the world’s drinking water and the origin of the four rivers of paradise.

In the Kishle moat, the exhibition Umbilicus reveals layers of creativity, emphasizing the female voice and the connection between body, creation, sound, and movement. The works have a recurring theme: The dual human yearning to rise above the material plane and merge into the mysteries of the body, nature, and cosmos. Visitors are invited to delve deep and explore themselves through works expressing the body as the “axis of the world,” mediating between individual and universal, microcosm to macrocosm. The works blend the political with the sensual, analogs of vessels and bodies, humans and landscapes, contours and evocative textures. A path from the navel of the world to the belly of the earth (evoked in the footage created by volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft).

Artists presented in the exhibit:
Hannan Abu-Hussein, Sahar Azimi, Sharon Balaban, Matan Daskal, Yehudit Sasportas, , Merav Shinn Ben-Alon, and Lihi Turjeman.
Curators: Dr. Adina Kamien, Malu Zayon

The exhibition is included in the Museum price of admission and is open during Museum opening hours. Entrance to the exhibit is through Gallery 1, “On the Shores of Eternity”.

Note: The Kishle is an historic building and entrance is by stairway. The exhibition is not wheelchair accessible.