The Ark
The story of Noah’s Ark encapsulates many questions that have always concerned human culture in general and the design sphere in particular, and are now more pertinent than ever: How do we choose to preserve and save ourselves from ourselves? What will our world look like when the water recedes? How will we rise back up from this material and spiritual ruin?
What is an ark? First and foremost, it is a place where we survive the flood. We gather there to preserve life, collect the raw materials we will need to build the new world, and look to the horizon in search of stability, even if our gaze is unsteady as the waves toss us about. An ark is resilience in a crisis, a temporary home, hope amid stormy seas.
The contents of the ark are the result of curation, a process where choosing one thing over another creates a narrative, telling one story among many. The decision of what goes into the ark reflects value-based priorities that exist in the spaces between the poles of life and death, past and future, essence and excess, necessity and indulgence, preservation and annihilation.
The story of the Ark is about a catastrophic disaster caused by evils attributed to humans, but at the same time, it is about a human endeavor—the architectural creation, the work of collecting, and the human act of taking responsibility for preservation—that brings about humanity’s salvation, redemption, and hope. The frequent use of verbs that denote action and creation in the biblical text emphasizes the human impulse to take action in times of emergency. We act because all action is a way to resist helplessness in the face of overwhelming destruction.
Application timeline
Open call application deadline: May 9, 2024, 11 pm.
Please note: You can apply for several categories by filling out a separate form for each one.
Applicants who pass the first selection round and progress to the curatorial discussion stage will be notified by May 26, 2024.
The chosen projects will be funded and displayed at Jerusalem Design Week, which will open to the public on September 19, 2024.
Jerusalem Design Week
Launched in 2011, Jerusalem Design Week is Israel’s largest and most influential public event dedicated to design, with an extensive program of events, performances, and local and international design exhibitions.
Jerusalem Design Week is the flagship project of Hansen House, which makes extensive and diverse efforts to advance the field of design in Jerusalem and support Israeli designers. Each year’s edition of Jerusalem Design Week revolves around a theme that explores situations rooted in the local context of Jerusalem and Israel while also bearing international relevance. This tradition is grounded in the belief that Israel’s singular cultural landscape enables it to serve as a living laboratory for exploring urgent global issues, and that design has a duty to respond to these issues. Thus, each year, individual designers and teams working in various design disciplines are invited to respond to the annual theme in their own way by developing new projects and ideas.
A cultural event in a time of war
Now more than ever, the value of culture is put to the test. In times of crisis, we have the ability to take action and make a difference. Through creative work, we can begin to heal and redesign our future. This year, Jerusalem Design Week has made it its goal to support design initiatives and actions that turn our gaze inward—to the design sphere—and outward—to society at large—and consider the day after the current crisis.
Jerusalem Design Week is an initiative of the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage and the Jerusalem Development Authority. It is organized and managed by Hansen House and Ran Wolf Ltd.
General management: Smadar Tsook and Ran Wolf, Ran Wolf Ltd.
Chief curators: Dana Benshalom, Sonja Olitsky
Theory and content director: Dr. Jeremy Fogel