Yael Bartana

Yael Bartana (1970, Kfar Yehezkel, Israel) lives and works in Amsterdam and Berlin. She is a video artist who explores the imagery of cultural identity. In her photographs, films, and installations Bartana critically investigates her native country's struggle for identity. Working with video filmed in Israel, she examines intersections between military events, national identity, and personal identity. Through manipulation of form, sound, and movement, she triggers personal responses that challenge the predictable, controlled reactions encouraged by the state. Her work is held in public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Tate Modern, London; and the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.

Bartana studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem (BFA, 1992–96), completed MFA studies at the School of Visual Arts, New York (1999), and was an artist in residence at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam (2000–01). She was awarded the Artes Mundi 4 prize in 2010.

Recent solo exhibitions include Utopia Now!, Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam (2025); Yael Bartana, Cecilia Hilstroem Gallery, Stockholm (2025); The Shadow Cabinet, 47m Gallery, Leipzig (2024); Two Minutes To Midnight, Villa Stuck, Munich (2024); Two Minutes To Midnight, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (2024); Zukunftsbewältigung, Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam (2024); Two Minutes to Midnight, Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam (2023); Redemption Now, Jewish Museum, Berlin (2021); and The Undertaker, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia (2021).

Group exhibitions include Thresholds, German Pavilion, 60th Venice Biennale (2024); Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Ekaterinburg (2021); Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2013); And Europe Will Be Stunned, 54th Venice Biennale, Polish Pavilion (2011); Documenta 12, Kassel (2007); 27th Bienal de São Paulo (2006); and 9th Istanbul Biennial (2005).