The Birds, 2026

one channel video and sound installation, 19 min.

<p><em>Our planet needs a break—from us, as bringers of war and destruction: we need to found a new humanity in the heavens.  Yael Bartana has designed a spaceship to carry many generations into outer space. It takes the form of the Kabbalistic Tree

Mir Zaynen Do!, 2024

one channel video and sound installation, 11.35 min.

<p><br></p><p>In communities of the diaspora, music can be a powerful tool for collectively preserving memories. Along with storytelling, traditional languages, and dancing, songs can represent a living home for stateless nations.</p><p>Commissioned

Zukunftsbewältigung (Overcoming the Future), 2023

Three channel video and sound installation, 7 min.

<p><br></p><p>In her work Overcoming the Future  Yael Bartana continues her longstanding inquiry into the human capacity for hope –a prophetic emotion based on past experiences and a prime motor of the political imagination. It is based on Bartana’s

Chaim Hermann Steinschneider, 2021

Live performance, 51 min.

<p><br></p><p>In her stage performance and live recording for steirischer herbst, Yael Bartana brings to life the ghosts and disturbing fantasies of Austrian-Jewish history. Together with the actress Susanne Sachsse, Bartana conjures up the spirit of

Malka Germania, 2021

Three channel video and sound installation, 38 min.

<p><br></p><p>Malka Germania, commissioned by the Jewish Museum Berlin, investigates the longing for collective redemption as a response to an age of anxiety. <em>Malka Germania</em> is Hebrew for “Queen Germania.” The name makes reference to an unus

Two Minutes To Midnight, 2021

One channel video and sound installation, 47 min.

<p><br></p><p>“What if women ruled the world?” Yael Bartana stages the question in her performative ‘Two Minutes to Midnight,’, where an all women government of a fictitious country must take a stand on an imminent nuclear threat from a foreign natio

The Undertaker, 2019

One channel video and sound installation, 13 min.

<p><br></p><p>The film chronicles an enigmatic leader and her armed followers during a choreographed procession and burial of weapons. Philadelphia, the birthplace of American democracy, plays a prominent role as this group of dancers, war veterans,

Tashlikh (Cast Off), 2017

One channel video and sound installation, 11 min.

<p><br></p><p>Yael Bartana’s ‘Tashlikh’ serves as a platform for both perpetrators and survivors of various genocides or ethnic persecutions – the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, as well as Sudanese and Eritrean ethnic cleansing or civil wars – to

True Finn – Tosi suomalainen, 2014

One channel video and sound installation, 50 min.

<p><br></p><p>For her IHME Project 'True Finn' Yael Bartana invited people living in Finland to take part in creating an utopian moment. The condition was that each person has a different ethnic, religious and political background. As a result of an

Pardes (Orchard), 2014

One channel video and sound installation, 71 min.

<p><br></p><p>In her work 'Pardes' (Orchard) Yael Bartana takes a very personal look at how Westerners seek personal enlightenment by appropriating traditional rituals: she documents the journey of her close friend Michael – an Israeli artist, who, o

Inferno, 2013

One channel video and sound installation, 22 min.

<p><br></p><p>The starting point of 'Inferno' is the construction of the third Temple of Solomon (Templo de Salmão) in São Paulo by a Brazilian Neo-Pentecostal Church. Built to biblical specifications, this new temple is a replica of the first temple

The Recorder Player from Sheikh Jarrah, 2010

One channel video and sound installation, 7:20 min.

<p><br></p><p>In 'The Recorder Player from Sheikh Jarrah' the protagonist is doing away with uniform and rows of people. A recorder player in her hands, she succeeds in sending out a convinced image even if the camera captures some undisclosed and sl

Entartete Kunst Lebt, 2010

Animation, 16mm film and sound installation, 5.12 Min.

<p><br></p><p>When the Nazis came to power in Germany, they regarded Otto Dix as a degenerate artist and had him sacked from his post as an art teacher at the Dresden Academy. He later moved to Lake Constance in the south west of Germany. Dix's paint

Summer Camp / Awodah, 2007

Two channel video and sound installation, 12 min.

<p><br></p><p>'Summer Camp' shows the activities of 'The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions' (ICAHD); their actions consist amongst others of rebuilding Palestinian houses in the occupied territories. In the summer of 2006 Bartana filmed a g

A Declaration, 2006

One channel video and sound installation, 7:30 min.

<p><br></p><p>'A Declaration' takes place in the southern seashore of Tel Aviv, on the invisible border between that city and Jaffa. The Israeli flag waves on 'Andromeda’s Rock', which alludes to the Greek mythological figure sacrificed by her parent

Wild Seeds, 2005

Two channel video and sound installation, 6:40 min.

<p><br></p><p>'Wild Seeds' focuses on a group of youths in the middle of a barren West Bank mountain landscape. The group is simulating the 'evacuation of the Gilad settlement' in the form of a game. The game was developed by Israeli activists and is

Sirens’ Song, 2005

One channel video and sound installation, 4 min.

<p><br></p><p>'Sirens’ Song' starts at the beach, people are swimming and surfing in the ocean. The camera's perspective changes and becomes level with a stone bollard that stands in front of a busy street. A military march can be heard, the music sl

Odds and Ends, 2005

One channel video and sound installation, 4 min.

<p><br></p><p>'Odds and Ends' invades the space of a shopping center – big, loud, pink. It is a meditation on consumerism and a narrative about individuals caught up in a process that mostly exceeds their will and control. Sometimes shot from above,

Short Memory, 2004

One channel video and sound installation, 1 min.

<p><br></p><p>A collaboration between Yael Bartana and Gregg Smith. A telephone conversation is overheard between two friends. They recall going bird watching in the Negev desert. Their conversation is heard over a sequence of stills from the Negev B

You Could Be Lucky, 2004

One channel video and sound installation, 7:30 min.

<p><br></p><p>'You Could Be Lucky' sets its sights on England's biggest steeplechase race, the Grand National in Aintree. Yet, rather than turning the spotlight on the horses participating in the competition, Bartana focuses on the spectators cavorti

Low Relief II, 2004

Four channel video and sound installation, 5:40 min.

<p><br></p><p>'Low Relief II' documents an example of civil demonstration, in protest against the wrongs caused by the building of the 'separation fence' (the term coined by the authorities). It also provides a record of the exertion of increased mil

Freedom Border, 2003

One channel video installation, 3 min.

<p><br></p><p>'Freedom Border' depicts the launching and flight of a small blimp, with cameras installed on its underside, which monitors the nation’s borders. The buoyancy of the blimp seems at odds with its ominous function — indeed, as it turns it

Ad de’lo Yoda, 2003

One channel video installation, 3 min.

<p><br></p><p>'Ad de'lo Yoda' captures a traditional Jewish parade through a crack in a door. Positioning the viewer as an outsider to the celebrations, dancing and colorful costumes are glimpsed momentarily as participants move past the camera. Rath

Trembling Time, 2001

One channel video and sound installation, 6:20 min.

<p><br></p><p>'Trembling Time' depicts the moment of silence on the day commemorating those who have fallen in Israel's wars. Each year, throughout the country, sirens remind Israelis to observe the 'Soldiers Memorial Day'. The camera is directed fro

Profile, 2000

One channel video and sound installation, 3 min.

<p><br></p><p>In 'Profile' Bartana focuses on Israel's military service which is compulsory for both men and women, directing her gaze at shooting drills. Just as concentrated as the young women aiming their guns at a target, the camera captures the