Part of Visitor Center - Solo Show at  Oranim Gallery for Israeli Art, Qiryat Tivon

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“Edelweiss” explores the connections and tensions between nature and history, layered together in special locations, blending national myths and global tourism.

 

Against the background of the archeological site of Tel Megiddo, a famous Israeli singer and actor (Sassi Keshet), is singing the song “Edelweiss”, echoing an iconic scene from “The Sounds of Music”. In that movie, the song celebrates the picturesque Austrian highland, as a testament to Austrian patriotism and in defiance of the Nazi Anschluss.

 

Edelweiss, the alpine wildflower, was declared, following the tremendous success of the American musical turned Hollywood classic, as Austria’s national flower. The movie had contributed greatly to the city of Salzburg becoming a tourist hub, attracting travelers from all over the world to its mountainous landscape.

 

Tel Megiddo is one of Israel’s most important archeological sites. On the website of the Jewish National Fund, it is advertised under the slogan: “a glorious past and an apocalyptic future”, alluding to the myth prophesying a cataclysmic event will take place there, bringing about the end of days(Armageddon, a compound of the Hebrew word for mountain, har, and the name Megiddo). Bringing together the echoes of past and future catastrophes, “Edelweiss” calls to mine the deeply horrifying yet strangely comical vision of apocalyptic tourism, in which humanity experiences its own end as an entertaining leisure activity.