The Fifth stop of Zumu, which took place on the threshold of houses, front yards and buildings on the Axis of Heshmonaim road in Lod, was born in and out of pain. Covid 19 had suddenly burst, isolated us all at home and brought Zumu’s journey to a standing halt.
On May 2021, after a little over a year of forced shutdown, we were about to finally open Zumu Lod in the open air of the “Atid College” grounds. However, just before opening, the military operation “Guardian of the Walls” broke out, prompting a week of alarming violence throughout the city of Lod.
After a month of shock, grief and contemplation about the future of Lod (and the country), we decided to cancel the exhibition as it was initially planned and create instead “Zumu Threshold”, a project aiming to creatively and instinctively respond to the dark new reality that overclouded the city. The general impression was that the residents of Lod, Jews and Arabs alike, feel unsafe in their own city. Neighbors became potential enemy’s and their overall sense of safety in their neighborhoods- was gone.
Zumu Threshold invited 21 leading artists to create new permanent artworks on the thresholds of buildings, houses and front lawns on the Axis of the Heshmonaim Road in Lod. The works were designed to directly correspond with the concept of the household threshold and to the fine line between private and public space.
The artists met with the neighbors living in the selected houses, heard their stories, perspectives and narratives, and then created new artworks that responded to the fraction and offered a small creative path into an alternative reality.
The exhibition spread throughout a kilometer of shared living grounds of Jews and Arabs, natives and newcomers, young and old. A neighborhood that represents the diversity of Lod and that sadly saw violent conflicts during May ’21, just next to where the original Zumu Lod was set to open.
Zumu Threshold was an artistic, creative response designed to reshape neglected public spaces into areas of social gatherings and shared communal experiences. All of the works created in the process became permanent fixtures in the urban landscape of the neighborhood, as a gift from Zumu to the people of Lod. All works were assigned with texts in Hebrew and Arabic and links to videos in which the artists share their creative process.
The full map of Threshold artworks may be found here
All works in the project were launched to public display on the last weekend of August ’21 marked with a four day street festival with neighborhood block parties, live performances and family friendly workshops.
Zumu Threshold hosted guided tours of the exhibition for all high-school students of Lod and is still on permanent display, open free to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Please note the artworks are not illuminated.
Participating artists:
Rina Angado // Nirvana Dabah // Liat Danieli // David Duvshani // Meydad Eliyahu // Oren Fisher // Lali Fruheling // Itamar Faluga // Amira Fodi // Shirel Horowitz // Ra’anan Harlap // Olga Kundina // Hana Kubti // Klone (Igor Revlis) // Talia Keinan & Guy Sherf // Michael Liani // Ronen Shaharabni // Lilach Stiat // Meir Tati // Moshe Tarka
Production Team: Milana Gitzin Adiram, Ariel Adiram, Yair (Yaya) Milnov, Shahar Ben Nun, Adi Shacham, Stav Even Chen, Manar Mima, Bar Yerushalmi
Zumu Threshold Lod was made possible through the generous support of the Ted Arison Family foundation, Mifal HaPais, Beyahad Foundation, Anata Foundation, BFAMI, The US Embassy in Israel, Lod Municipality, Shoresh Foundation, Shoken Foundation and private donors.