Out-of-office is an experimental platform that came to fruition following the many requests sent by performance artists, choreographers, and dancers to CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo’s administrative staff during the pandemic in search of alternative venues in lights of the health restrictions and their effect on the performing arts halls. Only some of the inquiries that reached the Center’s general email address were answered in the affirmative at that time due to time and space constraints, as well as to avoid cancellations and changes that might occur because of the unexpected nature of the pandemic. Among the artists who still performed at the time, in front of a small audience and in accordance with the guidelines, were Anat Shamgar, Irad Avni, May Zarhy, Ohad Fishof, and others. Now that the pandemic seems to be under control and the easing of restrictions allows for a return to semi-normalcy, we can host additional artists alongside the exhibitions on display at the Center and the event program that accompanies them. 

The o-o-o platform, initiated by content manager Muhammad Toukhy and office manager, Guy Bernard Reichmann, will host a wide range of artists in the months of April and May at the Marc Schimmel Multipurpose Gallery and will feature dance, performance, sound-art and and video. The choice of works was conditioned on their being cohesive and suitable for the space, and emphasis was placed on artists who have not yet participated in events at the Center. In the process, the participants - many of them removed from the machinations of the art world - were given the chance to experience procedures of the art world such as artist talks. In turn, the Center adopted the tradition of performing art halls and allowed each artist to be hosted for several performances in consecutive evenings. In addition, the event “Lethal Money” will be shown as part of o-o-o – This program of video works is a tribute to the pioneers of the Israeli soap operas of the 1990s curated by Meital Aviram.

Since its inception, CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo has developed and experimented with diverse platforms. We are proud to add o-o-o to the Center's repertoire. All proceeds, (minus operating expenses) will be given to the participating artists in accordance with the spirit of the center which focuses on artists and strives to strengthen and bring together the local artistic community.

Noa Simhayof Shahaf and Alina Yakirevitch

Next Time You Are Fired, 2019

Video still

courtesy of the artists