By the end of 2026, a new Art Ranctuary is expected to be established in Kibbutz Be’eri — in a site adjacent to the former Be’eri Gallery, which was completely destroyed in the October 7th massacre. This was announced today by Kibbutz Be’eri during a joint visit by the President of Germany and the President of the State of Israel.
Sofie Berzon MacKie, Director of Be’eri Gallery, stated:
Our mission, which was woven from a shared will to stop the ripples of destruction and from a deep desire to stand against the forces of ruin, has gradually revealed its importance — not only for Kibbutz Be’eri or the art world, but as a milestone in our collective remembrance: what makes a person human.
Perhaps we have the opportunity — with the help of art — to answer that question, and find a path forward.
This day, is a pure expression of the shared human destiny. The restoration of what was destroyed, even symbolically, is the embodiment of the choice to cling to life, to humanity, to beauty, to a world that at times seems to have no room for any of these things.”
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how”, said Niedzche. Life has proven to us how true that statement is.
This day is a pure expression of the shared destiny. The restoration of what was destroyed, even symbolically, is the embodiment of the choice to cling to life, to humanity, to beauty, in a world that at times seems to have no room for any of these things.”
Kibbutz Be’eri announced today (Wednesday, May 14) the establishment of a new Art Ranctuary, following the complete destruction of the Be’eri Gallery for Contemporary Art — founded in October 1986 and home to hundreds of exhibitions over the years — in the October 7th massacre.
The gallery is currently operating temporarily out of Beit-Romano in Tel Aviv.
Today, the site of the new project was visited by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, together with President of Israel Isaac Herzog. At a joint ceremony held in November 2023 beside the ruins of the former gallery, the German President announced the German Parliament’s intention to contribute approximately seven million euros toward the gallery’s reconstruction.
Following a year and a half of research and planning — including an architecture competition — STUDIOPEZ, in collaboration with landscape architects Atelier SOTO, were selected to design the 4-dunam (approx. 1-acre) complex. The site will preserve existing abandoned silos and include the creation of a new forest garden surrounding the buildings
STUDIOPEZ is an international architecture studio based in Tel Aviv and Basel, Switzerland. It was founded in 2012 by Daniel Zarhi and Pedro Peña, following their collaboration at Herzog & de Meuron. The firm has received widespread recognition, awards, and has led major architectural projects both in Israel and internationally.
Key projects include: the Faculty of Engineering at Tel Aviv University, a laboratory building at Tel-Hai College, the Jerusalem Court Complex, the University of Bern campus in Switzerland (in collaboration with Wulf Architekten), an innovative agricultural school in Mikveh Israel, and many others
