A (fake) tree grows in Tel Aviv’s Museum of Art
‘The Garden’ juxtaposes fake flora and fauna with real trees and vegetation to explore urban nature
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
There’s a new garden at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, yet this one is indoors. An installation titled “The Garden” features a plot full of grassy hills and trees, leafy bushes and flowerbeds, some in full flower, others dry and brown.
Once visitors enter the gallery’s dusky interior, they can wander the paths, listen to the sounds of nature, and try to discern the flora and fauna around them.
“The Garden” is meant to be juxtaposed with the museum’s outdoor sculpture garden, visible from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the museum’s hallways and accessible outside the museum’s doors.
The exhibit, created by landscape artist and urban designer Yael Moria and curated by Maya Vinitsky, is also intended to be a method for viewing urban nature and the environment in the age of virtual reality.
Moria’s garden examines what’s natural and what is manmade in the particular natural space that combines real trees and vegetation alongside flora and fauna made from plastic and silk.
Dusk light in the exhibit marks the division between day and night, and allows visitors to straddle between what’s real and what’s not in the garden.
Each Saturday in May, the museum will host two family workshops, at 10:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. Participants are invited to cut, fold, glue, and design figures and landscapes in black and white, creating a magical forest that tells a personal story.
“The Garden” opened on April 22 and will remain open through October 24, 2025.
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