Bezalel launches new art wing, design hub

Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design recently inaugurated a new art wing and design hub aimed at art collaboration and partnerships.

The Hub, named for philanthropists Idan and Batia Ofer and funded by the billionaire couple, is the first of its kind in Israel, aimed at fostering academic and cultural collaboration with global institutions and artists.

“In days of severed ties and academic boycotts, the launch of the International Hub named after Idan and Batia Ofer is an unprecedentedly important move, reflecting faith in the power of art to change and influence, and seeking to support the Academy’s work and status in the global arena,” said Adi Stern, Bezalel’s president.

Based in Bezalel’s Jerusalem campus, the hub will offer study programs and host visiting artists and lecturers.

The International Hub will house analog and digital photography labs, print studios, sculpture and metalwork facilities, 3D printing, print farms, editing rooms, and photo and video studios.

“I believe in the power of art to bring people closer together, to reflect complex realities, and sometimes also to contribute to processes of social change,” Batia Ofer said at the July 29 inauguration event. “The wing is intended to serve as a supportive and inspiring space for the young generation of creators, who will find in it the tools and infrastructure that will enable them to dream and shape a better future – here and in other places around the world.”

Ofer, chair of the board of trustees of the Royal Academy of Arts in London and a prominent Israeli on the global art stage, will serve as the Hub’s honorary president and help strengthen the school’s international ties.

The Ofers stepped down from the executive board of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, ceasing donations to the institution in October 2023, over the lack of support from the university’s leadership following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack.

Idan Ofer, who has a net worth of nearly $20 billion, made his fortune through his majority stake in Israel Corp., a chemicals, energy, and shipping conglomerate. His father, the late Sammy Ofer, was once Israel’s richest man, according to Forbes.

The hub and wing were inaugurated at the same time as the presentation of the Yakir Bezalel Award for 2025, presented to Batia Ofer, who is also an art collector, choreographer Ohad Naharin, artist Said Abu Shakra and illustrator Maira Kalman.

The Yakir Bezalel Award is granted annually to creatives and thinkers. Recipients have included Supreme Court President Aharon Barak; former president of Israel, Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin and his wife Nechama Rivlin; designer Ron Arad; actress Ronit Elkabetz; architect Ada Karmi-Melamede; Baroness Ariane de Rothschild; and sculptor Dani Karavan.