Yuli Zakai

April 2019, recipient of Musrara, The Naggar School of Art and Society Jerusalem graduates scholarship

Arrival
I am a wanderer. In KuBa.kulturbhanhof I found a home for one month.
Each of the persons around me, represented a sort of archetypic figure for me: Sharon, Cheb, Gaya, Aya, Klaus.
I read „The Dance of Reality“ by Jodorowsky. I started reading on the first day of my arrival and finished it on the last day. I was in new surroundings.
My perception of time changed, the smell of the place was different, I met new persons. This made my „Dance of Reality“ more and more prominent. I payed attention to the art of every-day actions. Baking bread gives a feeling of „being home“. I baked my home, I baked myself. The abandoned animal house inspired me to bring it to life with the tools I collected.
The magic of bringing a place to life.
With minimal lighting.
With emphasizing the life that was once there.
With turning them to shadows.

I used red light
„The red light symbolize my entering to the staged world. Behind the red curtains the ego is has over rules” ״the shadow-self of the White Lodge. The legend says that every spirit must pass through there on the way to perfection. There, you will meet your own shadow self. My people call it ‚The Dweller on the Threshold‘ … But it is said, if you confront the Black Lodge with imperfect courage, it will utterly annihilate your soul” (Deputy Tommy ‚Hawk‘ Hill, Twin Peaks)

The house
Sharon & Cheb created a home. It did not need a long time to adjust to it. It was comforting to look at and experience it every day, a nice and cozy house with a fire place. My daily routine of drinking hot chocolate, reading, investigating into my project. Dancing with Gaya in the living room, stretching on the carpet. Cooking. And taking care of the fire in the stove. The most significant action, to take care of my beloved fireplace. To go to red house in the night.
The light was lit, each object got a life of its own, and sometimes I got startled by one of the objects I lit up: the shadow of a chair or of a spider web, or – while organizing the electric cables the feeling that someone puts a hand on my back…

The she-wolf
The wolves are back to Germany after 100 years. Some people want to kill them, others raising their voices to ensure the survival of the wolves. The she-wolf as my alter ego, the one who will allow me to play in-between-the -worlds.
“Wolf in culture making it the symbol of the warrior on one hand, and that of the devil on the other”

The Ceremony
I was naked with the limps made of dough tight to my body.
I wasn’t comfortable. What kept my spirit was the guarding energy of Sharon and the warm fire. Gaya guarded me with her camera.
I burned my inner organs while Gaya was filming. This ceremony took place during sunset. When it turned dark, the light in the house shone red. I took off my dough-organs from my body and got back to the comfort of my own skin.The organs turned black. They were baked and turned into sculptures in the way the fire chose to mold them.
When it ended, Sharon covered me with a blanket.
I felt good. Like getting off the stage and at the same time getting out of a sweat lodge.