Voice of the Next State in Jaffa

Following the disappearance of the concept of “peace” from the public discourse, and in a desire to stimulate the eroded public political imagination and to realize the power of art and its institutions in the struggle to shape the future society between the Jordan and the sea, Omer Krieger and Hillel Roman decided to establish the broadcasting station Voice of the Next State. The station operated in 2016-17 in central city squares across Israel, and hosted speakers who presented their vision for the next state, with emphasis on coexistence for Jews and Arabs, regional peace, and the end of the occupation. The public was invited to make use of the open mic placed on site, and the entire event was broadcast live on social media. Voice of the Next State is an ongoing artistic act held in the public sphere, whose results are not known in advance. As such, it allows the “training” of the imagination, initiates discourse, and re-examines art’s use value in the political field.4 

In the current exhibition, Krieger and Roman present a video piece documenting the previous stations in which the broadcasts took place, alongside an illuminated LED sign, facing the street and seeking to spread a message of hope for a beautiful future. 

Omer Krieger

Omer Krieger makes performative actions, political situations, and civic choreographies in public spaces. He studies the public experience and the performance of the state, and is interested in the relations between art, citizenship, politics, and action. 
Krieger was the founding artistic director of the 1:1 Center for Art and Politics in Tel Aviv-Jaffa (2018-2020). Artistic director of Under the Mountain: Festival of New Public Art in Jerusalem (2011-2015), and Co-founder and leader of the performative research body Public Movement (2006-2011).

Hillel Roman

Hillel Roman is a visual artist and a lecturer at Beit Berl College. In his works Roman deals with various aspects of the political, visual, and technological order and their interconnectedness. His practice focuses on, but is not limited to, charcoal drawings and large-scale participatory constructions. 
Roman holds a BA in comparative literature from Tel Aviv University, and an MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London. His works are in major Israeli collections such as the Israel Museum, Tel Aviv Museum, Petach Tikva Museum and Haaretz Art Collection. He is the recipient of various prizes and scholarships including, Artport Residency, Asylum Arts grant, Rabinowitz Foundation and more. Roman’s work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions locally, including the Tel Aviv Museum of art; Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art; Haifa Museum of art; Petach-Tikva Museum of Art; Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv and Sommer Gallery, Tel Aviv. 

The event “The Voice of the Next State” in Jaffa took place on the opening night of the exhibition “Looking Back at the Future.”

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⁴ See Musih, “Political Imagination,” p. 54.