Zivia Kay

Starting as part of her research, Kay is a co-organizer of the International Conference Urban Action.

Zivia Kay studied at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and Technische Universität Berlin. The recorded working language is Hebrew. The field of work recorded is design. Employment is recorded with Bezalel Academy of Art and Design.

Kay is a graduate of the Technion I.I.T. (B.Sc., M.Sc., PhD) and of Bezalel, Academy of Art and Design (B. Des. in Industrial Design Dept.). In her PhD research she coined the theoretical concept of 'The Signature of Appearance' combining political philosophy, hacktivism and fashion theory. Kay is the head of Strategies of Cultural Action at Israel100 initiative and the initiator of the international conferences Urban-Action as Open-Source. She is a member of 'IMAGIN, INSTITUTION', multidisciplinary research group, and a library associate at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. She is the Chair of Fashion Expertise steering committee at the Israeli Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport.

Zivia Kay is the owner of kUAH studio, focusing on visual activism and civic strategies. Kay also teaches at Bezalel and the Technion, specializing in conceptual design, ethics, and activism. Since 2020, she has been active as a fashion designer. Kay views design as part of an evolving creative process, which includes a conceptual statement referencing the history of design and art. Her professional intentions to combine practice and theory are assimilated in her teaching as well as in her artworks.... As part of her educational agenda in the Ethical Fashion track, students were challenged to rethink dressing rituals and codes Kay uses simple materials such as plywood and fabric. She challenges fashion trends, "those that are the latest, talked about, with the artist's signature," she writes in the exhibition brochure for 'Rotunda', which showcased her works at the Periscope Gallery. The chairs, shelves, and tables she creates do not have stylistic or aesthetic significance, but they possess simplicity, movement, and conceptual experience, transforming a familiar and worn product into a work of art. Kay's writing is a combination of a call to action and cultural criticism, along with new thinking on visual ethics. Some of Kay's contemporary works explore ritual and lifecycle themes, including: • Shrouds for contemporary life cycle – a series of handmade shrouds by Kay, based on traditions that consider burial as an integral part of the life cycle. Elements from the shroud set are used in different religious rituals, and garments from childhood and adulthood are converted into shrouds.. • Temporary Forever – a series by Kay of changing, unraveling, worn-out pieces, reflecting human aging over time. Living with a piece from the collection means accepting natural changes such as wrinkling and whitening. • Wushu chairs – modular chairs made from leftover wood, textiles, and leather, incorporating martial arts wushu sticks to explore the art of sitting. "Netilat Yadayim" (2008), designed in collaboration with Israeli designer Dov Ganchrow, was presented at the 'Reinventing Ritual' exhibition at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco in 2010 and the Jewish Museum in New York in 2009. It re-examines the goals and constraints of ritual, focusing on objects, interior structure, and practices from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim traditions. "Kelipot" (2002) critiques the Israeli desire to convert Eastern folkloric rituals into an allegedly high culture. It was displayed in exhibitions in Israel and abroad, including at the Bezalel School of Art, the Holon Gallery, and the Eretz Israel Museum. It consists of a ceramic serving bowl (12 cm in diameter) designed to hold sunflower seeds and shells. As a curator Kay worked on "Periscoptiva" an exhibition that documented 15 years of the Periscope Gallery for Design in Tel Aviv. Unlike the book, which chronologically documents the gallery's activities, the exhibition at the Artists' House examines local design developments through the lens of 15 years of Periscope's activities. the exhibition displays approximately 150 works by about 40 active creators, arranged along a path that runs through the spaces at the Artists' House. A path of rocks made of local stone is positioned as a terrace and serves as a display medium. The placement of the rocks in the center of the exhibition spaces directs the audience's attention to view from the edges toward the central activity, with the existing disorder pattern reflecting the nature of the local design space.

Kay is a senior lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and a visiting adjunct professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Technion IIT. Her expertise focuses on the connection between conceptual design, ethics and activism; she leads conceptual workshops, urban hacktivism and guides students at individual and final projects. In Bezalel she is a member of 'Sustainable Action group' in the Jewelry & Fashion Dept., the Jewelry & Fashion representative at the Center for Career Development, and the Jewelry & Fashion representative at the Sustainable Development Hub. Kay was the head of the 'Ethical Clothing' Track at the Jewelry & Fashion, 2007–09 and the Head of Urban Action research center, the Hadarion urban lab of the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion IIT 2017–22.

• 2024 Das & Shuf, Loushy Art & Projects, TLV • 2023 solo artist in Dressed for Eternity: Jewish Shrouds through the Ages, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, curator: Efrat Asaf-Shapira, catalogue. • 2018 Text | Tekes | Textile, Loushy Art & Projects, Tel Aviv, curator: Meir Loushy, catalogue • 2007 Green Green Olive, Artists House Tel Aviv, curator: Arie Berkowitz • 2003 Mandala, Satellite, Exhibition Gardens, Tel Aviv, curator: Maya Dvash, catalogue • 2002 Rotunda, PERISCOPE Gallery, Tel Aviv, curator: Sari Paran, catalogue • 2002 Upside down, ASCOLA Gallery, Tel Aviv, Conference, curator: Iris Paz, catalogue • 2001 Good Morning Israel, Zivia Kay and Shai Barkan, Urian Gallery of Israeli Art & Design, Ramat Hasharon, curator: Giora Urian • 2000 Mediterranean's Restaurant Zivia Kay & Dov Ganchrow, Ami Stei nitz gallery, Tel Aviv, curator: Ami Steinitz

• 2022 Small and Wild, Loushy Art & projects, TLV • 2020 Rash,Rash,Rash, Contemporary Gragers,Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center, TLV Univ., TLV, Curators: Dr. Shirat-Miriam Shamir & Dr. Ido Noi • 2010 Sequences & Identities, Israeli Jewelry Biennale 5, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, curator; Sigal Barkai, Catalogue • 2010 ASA25, Design Exchange, Toronto International Design Centre, Canada, curator: Mel Bayers, Catalogue • 2010 Reinventing Ritual, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, curator: Daniel Balesco, Catalogue • 2010 From Mediterranean Traditional to Israeli Contemporary Design, Canada's DX in Toronto, curator; Mel Bayers, catalogue • 2009 Reinventing Ritual, The Jewish Museum, NY, curator: Daniel Balesco, Catalogue • 2009 Design Exchange, Canada's Premier Design center, Toronto, Canada, curator: Alon Razgur Catalogue; Espace Villeneuve-Bargemon, Marseille, France, Catalogue • 2008 Amnesia, Zochrot gallery, Tel Aviv, curator: Shlomit Bauman, cat.: Sedek N. 3 • 2007 Lama Kova, Museum of Philistine Culture, Korin Maman Museum, Ashdod, Catalogue • 2006 Solos: New Design from Israel, Artis - Israeli Contemporary Art In New York, Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York, curator: Ellen Lupton, catalogue • 2006 Beaten Gold, Israeli Jewelry Biennale 4, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, curator: Dganit Stern, Catalogue • 2006 From Ceramic Design to Product Design, Design Gallery, Holon Institute of Technology, Holon, curator: Shlomit Bauman, Catalogue • 2006 Re-Orient, Biennale of international Design, St. Etienne, France curator: Eli Rosenberg, Catalogue • 2004 Cienporcientodise, International Design Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina, curator: Alon Razgur • 2004 Felissimo Design House, Design 21, New York, Catalogue • 2004 Rihutim, Swinging Chair, Tel Aviv • 2003 Combina Complete, PERISCOPE Gallery,Tel Aviv, curator • 2002 Israeli Design in Abitare Il Tempo, Furniture and lighting exhibition, Verona, Italy, curator: Vanni Pasca & Eli Rosenberg, Catalogue • 2002 Domestic stuff Exhibition, Frankfurt, Germany, curator: Alon Razgur • 2002 Stander, Rihutom exhibition, Tel Aviv, curator Ezri Terezi • 2001 Industrious Designers: Israeli design, Abitare IL. Tempo, Milan, Italy, curator: Vanni Pasca & Eli Rosenberd, Catalogue • 2001 Sofa, Rihutom exhibition, Tel Aviv Catalogue • 2001 Drishat Shalom, wondering exhibition, Giv'at Haviva • 2001 Rihutim, Divider YCATGTM escritoire B-613, Tel Aviv • 1997 Iyun - 7 designers, Ami Steinetz gallery, Tel Aviv

• Byers M., 2008, Improvisation – New Design in Israel, Tel Aviv University Publishers, Tel Aviv, • Tartakover D., Ofrat G., 2006, Bezalel 100, Vol. #3, Bezalel Academy of art and Design Publications, Jerusalem, Israel, • Shohat E., 2001, Forbidden Memories towards Multi Cultural Thinking, Kedem Publishing, Israel, 9900220281202 • Urian G., 2001, From the Israel Museum to Hacarmel market, Urian publishing, Ramat Hasharon, Israel, • Illustration — https: www.periscopedesigngallery.com/rotonda • Illustration — https: www.periscopedesigngallery.com/rotonda • Illustration — ZitUp-ZitDown series