Shula Keshet facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Shula Keshet שולה קשת‎
Born	(1959-08-02) August 2, 1959 (age 66) Tel Aviv
Citizenship	Israel
Occupation	Social activist, artist, publisher, art curator
Organization	Ahoti - for Women in Israel
Movement	Mizrahi feminism

Shula Keshet (born August 2, 1959) is an Israeli social activist, artist, and leader. She is a key figure in the Mizrahi feminism movement. She helped start and now leads "Ahoti – for Women in Israel" (meaning "My Sister" in Hebrew).

Keshet is well-known for her work in South Tel Aviv. She helps residents fight against the removal of African asylum seekers. Since the 1980s, she has also led protests against the large Tel Aviv central bus station. This station caused many problems like pollution and noise in the Neve Sha'anan neighborhood.

She created Ahoti House, which is the main center for the Ahoti movement. It's also a community and culture hub, an art gallery, and an education center. Keshet also helped set up the Ahoti Fair trade store. This store helps women from communities who don't have many opportunities find jobs and earn money. She also started the Libi BaMizrach (My Heart is in the East) festival, which celebrates Mizrahi culture. Her work aims to connect women from different groups and help them gain strength and support.

Keshet's art and her work as a curator focus on her identity as a Mizrahi-feminist. She helps women of Arab backgrounds, whether Jewish, Muslim, or Christian, share their stories through art. In May 2018, Keshet was chosen to lead the neighborhood committee of Neve Sha'anan. In November 2018, she was elected to the Tel Aviv city council.

Early Life and Education

Shula Keshet comes from a family of Mashhadi Jews from Iran. She grew up, went to school, and still lives and works in South Tel Aviv. Her grandmother, Hannah Kalati, was a community leader. She started the "Mothers House" in South Tel Aviv. This was a safe place for older Mashadi women to meet and socialize. Shula's mother, Mazal Kashi, was a nurse. She volunteered to give free immunizations to people in the neighborhood.

Keshet became a certified teacher. In the early 1980s, she taught art at an art college in Ramat HaSharon. Later, she taught art in several primary and middle schools in Tel Aviv. She also led art classes and workshops at community centers.

In 1991, Keshet stopped teaching in schools. She became the manager of the Milo Early Childhood Center in the Yad Eliyahu neighborhood. This center was a project by the city and the Ministry of Education. It became very successful, and she worked there for ten years. Each month, over 1000 children from South Tel Aviv's neighborhoods visited the center. They learned about different types of art and creativity.

Keshet felt that the traditional art world didn't represent her or her community. It mainly focused on European art and artists. It didn't give much space to Mizrahi, Arab, or other non-White art. However, teaching art helped her find her own creative path again. She started making art once more. This was especially true after she met Tikva Levy. They worked together on a project to bring art and cinema to the Mizrahi school system. During these years, Keshet's understanding of social and political issues grew. Her workshops explored topics like identity, history, community, gender, and politics.

Working for Social Change

Shula Keshet has spent over thirty years working to create social change in Israel. She focuses on bringing together women from different groups who face challenges. These groups include Mizrahis, Palestinians, immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Ethiopians, asylum seekers, and migrant workers.

Keshet is a major voice in the feminist movement that understands how different types of unfairness connect. This means looking at how gender, background, culture, money, and where someone lives can all affect their lives. She also helped bring this idea into the mainstream feminist discussion.

Keshet believes that women of color in struggling areas often face more difficulties. She thinks that if the fight for change is left to powerful groups, these communities will always be seen as needing help from the outside. She believes that people from the community itself should lead the efforts to improve their lives.

Ahoti – For Women in Israel

In 2000, Keshet helped start the Ahoti – for Women in Israel movement. She has been its leader ever since. Ahoti brings together many projects that help women who are often overlooked. Here are some of the projects Keshet has led:

• Ahoti House: Keshet imagined and founded Ahoti House. It's a cultural and community center for the Ahoti movement and for people in South Tel Aviv. It opened in 2005. It's a place where women from different backgrounds can talk, create art, and learn. They hold lectures and workshops about Mizrahi feminism and women's issues there.
• Ahoti Fair Trade Shop: This store is the first of its kind in the Middle East. It opened in 2009 and works with 16 other social groups across Israel. The store hires women fairly and sells handmade items from over 200 craftswomen. This helps them sell their work without high advertising costs or middlemen.
• Black Night Events: The "Black Night of Culture" is an annual protest and celebration that started in 2012. Keshet organizes it with other activists. It's a response to the city's "White Night" event. Activists say the "White Night" celebrates the culture of central and northern Tel Aviv (mostly European Jewish areas). They feel that the southern neighborhoods, where many Mizrahi people and immigrants live, are not included. They want to highlight the culture and challenges of South Tel Aviv.
• Aheta Center: In 2006, Keshet and Lakia Yardeny started the Aheta Center. "Aheta" means "sister" in Amharic. It's a cultural and job training center for Ethiopian women in Kiryat Gat. Its goal is to help these women become more financially independent. The women create and sell traditional pottery, embroidery, and weaving.

Activism in South Tel Aviv

• South Tel Aviv Against Expulsion: Keshet leads this movement. It opposes the Israeli government's plan to deport African asylum seekers. Keshet believes this policy tries to create conflict between different groups who face challenges. She says it lowers the value of homes in the neighborhood. She fears that after one group is removed, the Mizrahi residents might be next. Then, developers could take over the land for their own profit.

The movement's efforts grew stronger in early 2018 when the government announced its deportation plan. In February, a rally was held that brought together over 20,000 people.

• Fighting the Central Bus Station: The central bus station in Tel Aviv has caused many environmental and social problems. In the late 1980s, Keshet formed a group of Neve Sha'anan residents. They fought against the station's harmful effects through legal action, talking to the Knesset (Israel's parliament) and city officials, and raising public awareness through protests and media. Their efforts led to compensation for hundreds of residents. Keshet continues to lead new groups in this ongoing fight.
• Levinsky Park Protest: During the 2011 Israeli social justice protests, Keshet started the "Roar of the South" protest. She set up a tent camp in Levinsky Park in South Tel Aviv. This was similar to the main protest camp in Rothschild Boulevard. Her goal was to show that the housing protests in the wealthier parts of the city didn't fully represent the needs of South Tel Aviv. She wanted to emphasize that true social justice must include those who are most in need.

The camp became a place for protest, community, and culture. Events, music, and discussions happened around the clock. Even when police repeatedly took down the camp, activists rebuilt it. It quickly became a place of help for those in need. It welcomed homeless people, migrant workers, African asylum seekers, and foreign workers. The protest was peaceful and included people from many different backgrounds. The camp stayed until October 3, 2011, when police and city inspectors finally removed it.

• Power to the Community: After a wave of violence against African asylum seekers in South Tel Aviv in 2012, Keshet organized public meetings. These meetings brought together long-time residents of Neve Sha'anan and new asylum seekers. These meetings led to the creation of "Koach LaKehila," or "Power to the Community." This is a diverse movement working to improve the neighborhood and make it safer. The group conducted safety patrols, held discussions, offered help to individuals, and organized community events and protests.

Mizrahi Cultural Activism

• My Heart Is in the East: In 2009, Keshet co-founded the Libi BaMizrach (My Heart Is in the East) Coalition. This group brings together over 20 organizations, activists, and artists who work on cultural, social, or political issues. It's the first and only group of its kind in Israel focused on the Mizrahi struggle. Its goal is to drive change in the country, especially through discussions between different cultures. They also work with the Ministry of Culture and publish reports on how resources are shared. They aim to highlight and celebrate Mizrahi culture.

Writing and Documentation

Keshet believes that sharing knowledge, especially from women and marginalized communities, is vital for Israeli society. She has created ways to make sure these voices are heard.

For example, the book To My Sister – Mizrahi Feminism in Israel (2007) includes writings from many women. These women come from different communities, universities, and social activist groups. The report "Racism and Sexism in the Media – The Test Case of the Elections for the 19th Knesset" (2013) looked at how the media covered elections from a feminist view. This report was published in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. In 2012, Ahoti published From A to Z: A Dictionary of Peace by Women in Israel. This book was the result of a three-year project with 60 Jewish Israeli and Arab women. They shared their personal ideas about peace. The book includes both stories and poems and was translated between Hebrew and Arabic.

Keshet also publishes books and catalogs about her art. The book and art exhibit "Women Creating Change" (2009) shows the work of women involved in feminist activism. "Black Work" (2010) is a project and catalog from an exhibit that explored the connection between labor, high art, activism, and fair economy. Mizrahi and Palestinian Women in the Visual Arts looks at how Mizrahi and Palestinian cultures interact in Israel through art. This book features the work of 34 artists and includes essays by leading thinkers.

Art and Curation

Shula Keshet is a Mizrahi feminist artist and art curator. She has been creating and organizing art exhibits since the 1990s. She was the first curator in Israel to show how identity and gender connect in the art of Mizrahi women. She also visually links Mizrahi feminist activism with art.

One of Keshet's main goals as a curator is to create places to show Mizrahi art. She also features art from other groups, like Palestinian and Ethiopian women. This art has often been left out of the main Israeli art scene. She wants to make art available to many communities, including those in less wealthy areas, not just the rich, central parts of the country. She also publishes books and catalogs of the exhibits to make sure they are recorded and available for a long time.

Keshet's own art reflects these ideas. She wants to start new discussions about Israeli society. She works with many different art forms. She is especially known for her micrography, which is creating pictures from tiny words. Her work has been shown in both solo and group exhibitions.

Solo Exhibitions

• "Mother's House" (Beit Em), Jerusalem Artists House, March 2004. This exhibit showed portraits of women from Keshet's family alongside pictures of made-up women. It imagined a family tree through the mothers' side, showing the importance of women in family and society.
• "Women's Tractate A" (Masechet Nashim A), Ahoti House Gallery, December 2010. This exhibit was based on meetings where women discussed Jewish texts from a feminist point of view.
• "For the Glory of the State of Israel" (LeTiferet Medinat Yisrael), Ahoti House Gallery, May 2014. This series featured portraits of famous Israeli figures. Keshet created these portraits using micrography, an old Jewish art form where pictures are made from tiny, carefully written words. The words used were quotes that showed unfair views against Mizrahim by the people in the pictures. These figures included Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, activist Arthur Rupin, poet Nathan Zach, and singer Matti Caspi.

Group Exhibitions

• "Ahoti: Mizrahi Women Artists in Israel". Curators: Shula Keshet, Rita Mendes-Fleur. Jerusalem Artists House, February 2000.
• "Kria Mizrahit". Curator: Shula Keshet. Ministry of Education, Tel Aviv, March 2002.
• "Lights and Shadows: The Story of Iran and the Jews". The Diaspora Museum, Tel Aviv. January – August 2011.

Curation Projects

• "Mizrahiot" (Mizrahi women), Ami Steinitz Gallery of Contemporary Art, 2000.
• "13 Live Bullets", art gallery of Oranim College, Tivon; Heinrich Boll Gallery, Tel Aviv. This project remembered 13 Palestinian citizens of Israel who were shot during conflicts in October 2000. The display included childhood pictures of those who died, video statements from their families, news clippings, and personal items.
• "Mizrahi and Arab Women in the Visual Arts in Israel". Curators: Shula Keshet, Zahd Harash. 2004, 2005.
• "Women Creating Change", Ministry of Education, 2002, 2009.
• "Black Work" (Avoda Shchora); Curators: Shula Keshet and Ketzia Alon. First shown in eSel, Vienna, and in Barbour Gallery, Jerusalem.
• "Stains and Signatures" (Ktamim VeHakhtamot) – Mizrahi and Palestinian Women in the Visual Arts. Curators: Shula Keshet, Farid Abu-Shakra. Ahoti House Gallery, The Nazareth Art Gallery, November 2015.
• "Breaking Walls – Contemporary Mizrahi Women Artists in Israel", Redline Gallery, Beer Sheva, 2016.

Awards and Recognition

• 2011 – Jewel Bellush Israeli Feminist Award from the National Council of Jewish Women.
• 2013 – Shortlisted for the Rappaport Award, for creating change in Israeli society.
• 2014 – Award from the Libi BaMizrach Coalition.
• 2014 – The Yeshayahu Leibowitz Award for important public works, as General Director of Ahoti House.
• 2016 – Recognition award from the Knesset's Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality.
• 2019 – Association for Civil Rights in Israel Emil Greenzweig Human Rights award.

Media Recognition

• 2007 – Chosen by The Marker magazine as one of the top 40 women creating change in society.
• 2018 – Chosen by The Marker magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in Israel.

Books by Shula Keshet

• To My Sister, Mizrahi Feminist Politics (2007)
• Breaking Walls: Contemporary Mizrahi Women Artists in Israel (2014), co-edited with Ketzia Alon.
• Stains and Signatures: Mizrahi and Palestinian Women in Visual Art in Israel (2015), co-authored with Farid Abu-Shakra.
• Women Creating Change (2009), co-edited with Shlomit Aharoni Lir.
• A Rainbow of Opinions: A Mizrahi Agenda for Israeli Society (2007), with other editors.
• From A to Z: A Dictionary of Peace by Women in Israel (2012), co-edited with Bat-Shahar Gurmezano Gurfinkel.
• Black Work (2010), co-edited with Ketzia Alon and Shlomit Lola Nehama.