The “Rywkind–Ben Zour Grant for Art, Education, and Community,” initiated by Iris Rywkind Ben Zour, a Center’s Board Member, together with her partner, Eran Ben Zour, focuses on projects that resonate in the field of art education. Projects as such require high levels of engagement, creativity, and mutual commitment on the part of academies, students, and graduates.

The grant includes an annual donation of NIS 100,000 and is designated for the Center’s annual exhibition program, as well as for related educational and community events and activities. Within the framework of the grant, two exhibitions from the annual program of the Center for Contemporary Art are supported: one by an Israeli artist or an artist residing in Israel, and one by an international artist. For these exhibitions, art students are selected to participate in mentorship sessions with the exhibiting artist, with the aim of taking an active role in the installation of the exhibition.

The working process is collaborative and includes direct, hands-on experience in the making of an exhibition. Participants become familiar with the dynamics between team members, the curator, and the artist, and gain an understanding of how the process develops in practice through dialogue, role distribution, and shared responsibility. The masterclass is intended for participants who are willing and able to work collectively, and to form a temporary community around the exhibition.

Supporting young art students and graduates in such a way enables them to take an active part in exhibition making and to work alongside leading artists, thereby gaining professional experience in addition to the knowledge acquired during their studies. For the students, this is a unique opportunity to become full partners in an installation of an exhibition with the exhibiting artist, to learn from their extensive experience, and to gain an authentic insight into the practical realities of the art world. Additionally, the students benefit from a direct learning with the artist – an invaluable experience that can shape their trajectory in the art field in meaningful ways. Moreover, they receive recognition and credit within the artist’s project for their involvement. Participation in the grant’s activities is not only an educational experience, but also a significant chapter in the development of their artistic and professional careers, as they receive full credit in all exhibition publications to be included in their CVs.

For the artist exhibiting at the Center for Contemporary Art, this entails not only practical assistance in installing the exhibition, but also the benefit of a fruitful dialogue that is created by the cross-generational exchange, nourished by the genuine passion of students and graduates eager to learn and to take part in their practice. On top of that, they become part of the community at the Center for Contemporary Art, an institution dedicated to fostering practices, worldviews, and discussions addressing the most relevant issues of our time.

The selected projects are chosen by the founders of the grant from within the Center’s annual program, conceived by the curatorial team, and is primarily influenced by the themes and contexts of the exhibition, as well as by the artist’s skills and ability to serve as a mentor for the students and graduates.

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Gilad Ratman

In 2024, the grant was awarded to the exhibition “Gilad Ratman: Plecos”. Ratman’s ambitious installation included large-scale clay bodies. Through the grant, a selected group of recent graduates from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design – Din Bar, Romi Ben Yosef, Tamar Hecht, and Tamar Lash – together with Nevo Revivo, a graduate of the School of Visual Theater, were able to take a significant part in the creation of the work through a mentorship workshop with the artist. Thanks to the grant, the Center also held in-depth guided tours of the exhibition for high schools, colleges, universities, and additional pedagogical institutions, led by the artist and the exhibition’s curator.

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Documentation of the mentorship sessions with Gilad Ratman, including a selected group of Bezalel graduates – Din Bar, Romi Ben Yosef, Tamar Hecht, and Tamar Lash, and Nevo Revivo, a graduate of the School of Visual Theater – who’ve had the opportunity to participate in the creation of large-scale clay bodies responding to the exhibition space. Photos: Center for Contemporary Art.

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Etty Abergel

In 2023, the grant was awarded to the exhibition “Etty Abergel: Memoir”. Within the grant, a selected group of art students and recent graduates from Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art – Adir Cohen, Shir Cohen, Noa Mor, and Masa Omer – took an active role in the creation of the exhibition through a mentorship workshop with the artist.

Thanks to the grant, a series of tours and in-depth guided sessions were held for schools, colleges, universities, and pedagogical institutions.

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Documentation of the mentorship sessions with Etty Abergel, including a selected group of students and recent graduates of the Department of Art at Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art – Adir Cohen, Shir Cohen, Noa Mor, and Masa Omer – who’ve had the opportunity to participate in the creation of components of Abergel’s installation, through manipulations of existing objects and craft processes involving wood and textile. Photos: Adi Toledano.

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Adam Rabinowitz

As part of the Rywkind Ben Zour Grant for Art, Education and Community at CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo, art students and graduates Yaniv Drey, Sun Franko, Tomer Maza, Shahar Pinchas Grünwald, and Harel Wahnich took part in a masterclass with artist Adam Rabinowitz. As collaborators, they worked closely with him on installing his exhibition “Show Me the Way (Inside the Spider’s Mind)”, curated by Nicola Trezzi. 

They assisted in placing the works, organizing the space, and contributing to curatorial and technical decisions—gaining direct, hands-on experience of how an exhibition comes together. Initiated by Iris Rywkind and Eran Ben Zour, the Grant fosters learning through active participation, dialogue, and collaboration.

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Documentation of a mentorship session with Adam Rabinowitz, which offered a selected group of B.A. and M.F.A. graduates from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design — Yaniv Drey, Sun Franko, Tomer Maza, Shahar Pinchas Grünwald, and Harel Wahnich — the opportunity to take part in the creation of a site-specific installation based on light and sound, as well as a series of two-dimensional light works.

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Manar Zuabi

As part of the Rywkind Ben Zour Grant for Art, Education and Community at the Center for Contemporary Art Tel Aviv-Yafo, the following students and graduates participated: Luma Abu Wardy (University of Haifa); Maya Duniec (Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design); Nir Dick (Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design); Obaida Azem (Hamidrasha School of Art Beit Berl College); and Aisha Kadry (University of Haifa).

The five worked alongside Manar Zuabi on her exhibition Moderate Physical Pressure, contributing to the creation of a large-scale, site-specific installation based on Zuabi’s distinctive technique using wool threads and tights.

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Documentation of the mentorship session with Manar Zuabi, which offered this selected group of students and recent graduates: Luma Abu Wardy (University of Haifa); Maya Duniec (Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design); Nir Dick (Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design); Obaida Azem (Hamidrasha School of Art Beit Berl College); and Aisha Kadry (University of Haifa), the opportunity to take part in the creation process of a site-specific installation for Manar Zuabi’s exhibition Moderate Physical Pressure.