The Tel Aviv Musuem of Art is featuring four women artists, including two Palestinian Arabs from Umm al-Fahm. The exhibition that hit me was Ruth Patir’s (M)otherland. Patir is an American-born Israeli contemporary digital artist. Her exhibition is best described in the words of the curator, “At 36, Patir discovered that she carries a genetic mutation placing her at high risk for breast and ovarian cancer. As an unmarried woman with vague thoughts about starting a family, she was immediately directed by the medical establishment to undergo fertility preservation treatments for a potential future pregnancy.” Patir documents her experience and represents herself as an 8th century fertility figurine. Her work is simultaneously serious, complex, and funny.
