Each year, Jerusalem Design Week invites design academies to respond to the annual theme, through installations and events created and/or specially adapted to correspond with the Design Week. This year, the academies were asked to respond to the unavailing task of daily maintenance, and the relentless effort to maintain that which exists. Five academies – four in Israel and one in Slovakia – responded in spatial form, while two additional academies are participating in events occurring during Design Week.

Jerusalem is an eternal city. A place where past, present, and future intersect. The city constitutes a space where time shapes new identities, while at the same time putting others in danger of extinction. Time can be calculated, evaluated, and measured in many ways; From the wear and tear of a material, through the roughness of a worker’s hands, to the precision of an experienced hand’s motion. Finally – even facial features reveal our stage in the journey of time. Matchmaker 2022 concerns an interim connection: eight connections were made between senior craftsmen and young contemporary designers, spawning a series of new products. Although the curating process began as an exhibition-oriented operation, it became nothing less than a task of documenting, locating, and preserving the work of the craftsmen. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and its circumstances over the last two years turned the spotlight on seniors; their loneliness, vulnerability, and distress in the face of what is happening in the world. This year,  Matchmaker aims the spotlight from a different angle, one that emphasizes and strengthens the ability, knowledge, and wisdom they carry, and the power to pass them on to us – future generations. This is the Matchmaker’s fifth edition, which was originally initiated by curator Daniel Nachmias, who is joined this year by Gretel Judith Scheiner. The project aims to link local artisans with young designers in Jerusalem, thus weaving a local network of creativity, economy, and production. Each year, the project reveals its true power – not only in the selected products on display, but most importantly in what is not seen in the exhibition – encounters that breathe life into a disappearing professional sector, and young designers seeking local identity.

We live in a rapid, intense and dynamic world that presents a new kind of everyday difficulties.

During their joint work, the students offer the viewer an immersive and total experience, driven by design, movement, sound and animation – they have created, that offers examination of the transient and unreal reality, while addressing issues and personal aspects we all have to deal with in our daily life.

3rd year students participating in Art Direction course, lead by Designers Yaron Shin (Jewboy) & Reut Pardo – NB School of Design – WIZO, Haifa