“And Yet, Hope”: An Exhibition Exploring Pain, Healing and Resilience Opens in Tel Aviv
Twenty artists will present their work in a new exhibition entitled “And Yet, Hope,” opening on October 29 at Bifnocho Space in Tel Aviv. The exhibition explores physical injuries, psychological suffering and life with illness. Through painting, sculpture, photography and other artistic forms, it reflects on the ability to keep creating and moving forward, even when pain remains.
The exhibition follows “Hope Beyond Borders,” held at the same venue in October 2025. While the first edition explored hope as the ability to imagine, create and rebuild, the new exhibition focuses more closely on the coexistence of pain and hope. Healing is not presented as a linear process in which all suffering eventually disappears, but rather as a journey that continues amid uncertainty.
Hope as a decision to keep going despite adversity
The exhibition’s title echoes the thought of Hebrew writer Yosef Haim Brenner, known as Y. H. Brenner, whose work explores the difficulties and contradictions of life in the Land of Israel. Israeli philosopher Avi Sagi has also developed ideas around this notion of “and yet.”
From this perspective, hope does not mean denying pain or being certain that everything will eventually work out. Instead, it lies in the decision to keep living and acting while acknowledging the complexity of reality.
This approach runs throughout the exhibition. The works do not necessarily seek to provide answers or reassuring conclusions. Rather, they offer glimpses into human experiences in which vulnerability, hardship and the possibility of renewal coexist.
Each artist brings a personal perspective to the experience of adversity and the resources people draw upon to keep moving forward.
From physical injuries to psychological vulnerability
Several works directly address the consequences of injury and the process of recovery.
In a series of drawings and watercolors, artist Tal Goldman documents Idan’s physical rehabilitation after he was seriously wounded while serving in the reserves in Lebanon. Her work traces his journey toward physical recovery, placing his individual experience at its center.
Shahar NatanZon, meanwhile, uses the figure of the “bull’s head” to express the complexity of his psychological struggle. Through this image, he gives visible form to inner experiences that are otherwise difficult to articulate.
With her sculpture Aspiration (Khimya), Michal Polo transforms a stool, an object ordinarily associated with rest, into something that evokes a sense of threat and vigilance. Even after the danger has passed, tension remains. The work examines how a traumatic experience can continue to shape a person’s perception of the world long after the original event has ended.
Together, these creations demonstrate that the consequences of adversity are not always visible. They can persist in the body, emotions and relationship with the surrounding environment long after the initial circumstances have changed.
When art creates space for hope
Alongside works addressing pain, the exhibition presents creations that explore different expressions of hope.
A group of works dominated by shades of blue, associated with calm and openness, includes sculptures by artist Daniella Mano Bella. The figures she depicts take the form of little girls without distinctive markers of identity, leaving room for viewers to project their own emotions and experiences onto them.
In a painting by Irena Uife, a peaceful figure sits beside a lake, gazing toward the sky. The image evokes a sense of stillness and tranquility, contrasting with works that portray tension and vulnerability.
Shlomit Khoury, who lives with lupus, presents a ceramic sculpture depicting a wolf in shades of blue. Through this animal, the artist explores her relationship with the disease and the place it occupies in her personal experience.
Beyond the diversity of artistic techniques and individual experiences, “And Yet, Hope” offers a collective reflection on resilience and the role of art in processes of recovery and reconstruction. The works do not seek to erase wounds, but to show how they can coexist with new possibilities.
The exhibition runs until December 3 at Bifnocho Space in Tel Aviv.
Caroline Haïat
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