Inspired by the Sephardic/Mizrahi connection with mysticism and the Zohar’s interpretation of the universe as deeply metaphorical, Ghiora Aharoni will explore the notion that objects—from the antique to the contemporary, from sacred icons to the everyday—possess a unique resonance, informed by their intended use as well as the existence they have witnessed.

His lecture, entitled From the Sacred to the Utilitarian…Exploring the Soul of Objects, will trace the narratives of objects—ranging from a yad created with Zoharic text and Yemenite headdresses to an antique Moroccan menorah and vintage kerosene stoves used on Shabbat in Israel—the identity they embody and how those narratives can be harnessed, recontextualized and elevated into socio-cultural avatars of both our individual and collective humanity.

Illustrating these ideas with animations, still images and short films of artwork and installations created in his artistic practice over the course of nearly two decades, the lecture will survey the metaphorical, allegorical and inspiring narratives that exist within objects and their capacity to illuminate facets of our existence, and ultimately, humanity’s interconnectivity.

Ghiora Aharoni founded his multi-disciplinary studio for art and design in New York City in 2004. His work has been exhibited internationally in museums, institutions and galleries, and is in private collections and foundations in North America, Europe, the UAE, Israel and India. A graduate of Yale University, Aharoni’s work is in the collections of The Pompidou Centre, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Vatican, The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., The Morgan Library & Museum, The Huntington Library and Museum, The Anu Museum and he was selected as Princeton University’s 2024 Belknap Visitor in the Humanities. In 2022, Aharoni received the ASF Pomegranate Lifetime Achievement Award for Art and Design.