Bereaved Prayer Shawl, 2018, Etamar Beglikter
Updated: Mar 25, 2021
Photo: Beglikter Studio
What
Builders waste bag, ground cable, paint, border-marking wire
Who
Etamar Beglikter, b. 1977
Why
Etamar Beglikter’s “prayer shawl” was sewn out of builders' waste bags. The artist created it for Israel’s construction crews, whose members are mostly foreign workers. The severe shortage of safety supervisors, together with inadequately drafted and poorly enforced legislation, has resulted in numerous accidents in construction sites, many of which could have been avoided. Beglikter has produced a new safety device for the workers in order to provide the protection that should have been provided by the state, and supplies them with a different kind of “divine intervention.” The name of this prayer shawl, which he does not view as imbued with sanctity, alludes to the themes of bereavement, death and danger. According to Beglikter, the disproportionately large number of kashrut supervisors in Israel, in contrast to the small number of safety supervisors, is what led him to create this prayer shawl. Perhaps, if priorities were redefined, things could be different…
Video: Beglikter Studio
Where
On display at the Rothschild Gallery, Tel Aviv Biennale of Crafts & Design, MUZA – Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv.
