Dani Karavan

Dani Karavan (Tel-Aviv-Yafo, 1930 – Tel-Aviv-Yafo, 2021)

In 2007, Giuliano Gori began writing a text about the creativity of his friend Dani Karavan, a prolific artist who placed themes of peaceful coexistence, human rights, and the communication of knowledge at the center of his work. The collector described his research as “the informal chronicle of a witness whose experiences, which began with a chance encounter at the Venice Biennale in 1976, have often intertwined with those of the artist, eventually influencing and characterizing a shared journey.” The book was published a year later with the title Dani Karavan: a site specific life (Gli Ori, Pistoia, 2008) and documents 47 projects by the artist executed on all continents. It also includes the five projects carried out for Giuliano Gori in Tuscany and one in Naples at the CittàdellaScienza. Other Karavan projects in Tuscany followed, including the one for the hemodialysis pavilion of the Ospedale del Ceppo in Pistoia (1996) and the one for the Parco dellaPadula in Carrara (2002).

“Gerusalemmecittàdella pace,” a temporary work placed at the center of the Israeli pavilion designed for the 1976 Venice Biennale, was recovered and brought to Celle that same year as a tangible and permanent symbol of the fraternal friendship between the collector and the artist. The affectionate relationship between the two developed over the years with mutual visits made between Celle and Florence (where the Karavan family lived for three years) and the numerous cities where the artist created impressive public art works: Tel Aviv, Paris, Nuremberg, Berlin.

“Dani Karavan played a decisive role in the initiation of the environmental art project at Fattoria di Celle… He did not miss an opportunity to encourage me in the realization of the project, which he himself had fully embraced… The realization of an environmental work by Dani Karavan was almost too obvious. Friendship and agreement on the initiative were already well established, but when it came to defining the choice of space and materials to adopt, Karavan assumed the utmost professionalism. During the execution of Linea 1-2-3, our meetings intensified, giving me the opportunity to appreciate his leadership of the work and, above all, the respect and availability he showed towards his colleagues present.” — Giuliano Gori in Dani Karavan: una vita site specific, ed. Gli Ori, Pistoia, 2008, p.97.

For more info:

danikaravan.com

Works by the artist

Jerusalem, city of peace

The Tea Ceremony

Line 1-2-3+4+5

For more info: