Poster of the FERROR exhibition.
Original: Giovanni Bellini, Alzano Madonna, 1485-1490, Bergamo, Academia Carrara.
Prints (including frames) on canvas, 80 cm height each.
Ground on canvas, 1.80 m х 0.96 m each.
3/9/2009. Media photos of the cancelled exhibition in Beit Sokolov, Tel Aviv.
Video #1 for exhibition by Lilia Chak, .
Video #2 for exhibition by Lilia Chak, .
Video #3 for exhibition by Lilia Chak, .
Video #4 for exhibition by Lilia Chak, .
Video #5 for exhibition by Lilia Chak, .
Video #6 for exhibition by Lilia Chak, .
Video #7 for exhibition by Lilia Chak, .

FERROR in collaboration with Galina Bleikh
Installation, C-Print, Video

Ferror. Cancelled exhibition in Beit Sokolov, Tel Aviv, Israel. Curator: S. Rivilis.

The installation consists of 7 canvases 1.80 m х 0.96 m each with the ground on them as taken from the places of terrorist attacks implemented in Israel by female terrorists, 7 canvases of altered images of Madonna, a video film (21:00, by Lilia Chak) and FERROR word visualization, made of newspapers.

Galina Bleikh and Lilia Chak are introducing into international lexicon a new term: FERROR– a phenomenon of XXI century – acts of terrorism perpetrated by women (Female Terror). Today, the world faces a new gender problem – we are being killed by women-suicide bombers (ferrorists). Preparing this kind of terrorist act is a rather simple task: women do not have to be trained in arms, do not have to be educated in militarily academies or in sophisticated explosive weaponry – they have become a disposable and cheap weapon themselves. Among numerous terrorist acts carried out by ferrorists in Israel, the artist has chosen only seven. However, this problem is not pertinent only to Israel. Ferror has become a murdering phenomenon throughout Europe, Asia, and almost every continent on earth.

7 canvases of altered images of Madonna
Madonna, even without a religious connotation, is a world accepted symbol of motherhood and love and responsibility for a child. Lovingly she cradles a child in her lap, protectively holding it with her hands. In the warped world of extremism, love in the heart of a woman is replaced by such hatred that even motherhood is replaced by desire for annihilation and mayhem.
It is erroneous to think that terror is only an Israeli problem. The whole world is under the threat, and a universal child on Madonna’s lap is in grave danger.

7 “Soil” canvases
These works are testimonials of the wounded Soil.
In Hebrew, the words soil (adamah), man (adam) and blood (dam) stem from the same root. The very same soil where suicide bombings took place was carefully collected and used in these works. These canvases are a tribute to the victims.
Usually people see terror only on TV. One can get accustomed to “screen death”.
These canvases present an opportunity to experience, to feel, to employ other senses than just eyesight.
Nowadays, the science knows that each cell of the human body contains full information on his genome.
Considering the ground as a live subject with its own memory, the artist creates a monument to those killed in those places.

The ground was collected in the spots, where suicide bombing took place:

  • on 27 January, 2002 in Jaffa Street in Jerusalem. One person killed and 150 injured.
  • on 27 February, 2002 on checkpoint Maccabim near Modiin. 4 persons injured.
  • on 29 March, 2002 at the entrance of supermarket Kiryat Yovel in Jerusalem. 2 persons killed and 28 injured.
  • on 12 April, 2002 at Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. 6 persons killed and 104 injured.
  • on 19 May, 2003 at the entrance of mall Haamakim in Afula. 3 persons killed and 93 injured.
  • on 4 October 2003 in a restaurant Maxim in Haifa. 21 persons killed and 51 injured.
  • on 22 September, 2004 on French Hill junction in Jerusalem. 2 persons killed and 17 injured.

7 documentary videos
The artist: Lilia Chak
Lilia shot videos of Galina collecting the soil for the canvases from each and every place where the bombing took place.
There, where seven women – seven ferrorists – committed their atrocities, life goes on, the sun shines, people do business, and only memorial plaques with names of victims remind us that these places once were a scene of carnage.

Lilia Chak and Galina Bleikh are included in the platform for support Elfriede Elinek – writer, laurent Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004.

Shows:

  • FERROR. Solo exhibition. Journalist's Center Beit Sokolov, Tel Aviv, Israel. The exhibition was cancelled. Curator: Svietka Rivilis.

Media:

  • Dr. Isabelle Lemelin, Figures de terroristes = figures terroristes? Le cas de Hanadi Jaradat dans les oeuvres de Feiler & Sköld-Feiler et de Bleikh & Chak, article for journal Post-Scriptum, No. 29. Université Concordia et UQAM, Montreal, Canada.
  • Dr. Verena Straub, Digitale Postproduktionen. Die Zirkulation von Bildern palästinensischer Selbstmordattentäterinnen im Internet, article for book: Nähe auf Distanz. Eigendynamik und mobilisierende Kraft politischer Bilder im Internet. Hrsg. von Isabelle Busch, Uwe Fleckner & Judith Waldmann.
  • Dr. Silke Felber, We and Elfriede Jelinek are on the same morphological plane, article for platform`s book album. University of Vienna, Austria.
  • Dr. Nancy Hartevelt Kobrin, The Maternal Drama of the Chechen Jihadi, book 258 pages, ISBN-10: ‎1885881134, ISBN-13: ‎978-1885881137.
  • Lina Goncharsky, Святая террористка с младенцем, или Внимание, Ferror!, article. Culbyt.ru, Israel.
  • Dr. Alek D. Epstein, Art on the Barricades, article. Artguide.
  • Lilia Chak and Galina Bleikh, Ferror, article (english). Journal of Postcolonial Cultures and Societies ISSN No. 1948-1853.
  • – Selected links about FERROR exhibition:
    Art Forum MOMA; BBC; Daily Telegraph (GB); LE MONDE; Baardwijk's Worldview (Netherlands); Marginalia; Gente; Espacio Latino Uruguay; China Daily; Israel YnetNews; Ediot Ahronot; Jerusalem Post; Ediot Ahronot; Maariv; Ha-magazine.

Awards:

Fellowships:

  • Grant of Jerusalem Summit for the FERROR exhibition. Jerusalem, Israel.