ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tel Aviv, Israel - 12 July 2018

1. Various of exhibition visitors, sign behind them reading (Hebrew/Arabic/English) "Stolen Arab Art"

2. Mid of visitors

3. Wide of one of the films being shown in a dark room

4. Various of women watching a small screen where a film is playing

5. Close of Omer Krieger, Artistic Director of 1:1 Center for Art and Politics

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Omer Krieger, Artistic Director of 1:1 Center for Art and Politics:

"Stolen Arab Art is the first exhibition here at the Center for Art and Politics. It's basically video works that were made by artists from Arab countries, or of Arab origin that we are exhibiting, unfortunately without the knowledge or the consent of the artists."

7. Close of matchstick boxes with 1:1 logo

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Omer Krieger, Artistic Director of 1:1 Center for Art and Politics:

"We wouldn't be able to get their (Arab artist's) consent because of BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction international movement calling for boycott of Israel), because of the boycott on Israel, which is also Arab and international. So that's a kind of assumption. And also because we never asked them."

9. Close of women watching people talking

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Omer Krieger, Artistic Director of 1:1 Center for Art and Politics:

"We got many very negative reactions, people, you know, really they hate this act, both you know, Palestinians and let's say leftist Israelis and Jews. We got all kinds of bad reactions, but also I got some very comforting emails and texts of support from friends, also Palestinian artists."

11. Two women watch a debate happening through a doorway

12. Various of exhibition visitors

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Katalin Erdodi, exhibition visitor:

"I mean, stealing can go both ways of course, and what I find also interesting that since it's called Stolen Arabic Art, so basically you are claiming guilty."

14. Mid of man looking through materials on a table

15. People looking at materials on a table and walking away

16. SOUNDBITE (English) Omer Krieger, Artistic Director of 1:1 Center for Art and Politics:

"We want to see a change, so we believe we need to shake up also some norms, maybe some laws, and try to think again about what art can do in order to bring about political change, and also about the kind of politics we keep performing, keep maintaining as citizens."

17. Person standing at the top of a stairwell

18. People walking into the basement where films are being shown

Its very title tells you that you shouldn't be seeing this.

The Stolen Arab Art exhibition is exactly what it says it is.

The works are on display at this Tel Aviv gallery without the consent - or even knowledge - of the Arab artists who created them.

Using art in this way would be an ethical - and even legal - problem for any exhibition.

But it's even more controversial here, touching on the Arab-Israeli conflict itself.

"We wouldn't be able to get their (Arab artist's) consent because of BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction international movement calling for boycott of Israel), because of the boycott on Israel, which is also Arab and international," says Omer Krieger, artistic director of 1:1 Center for Art and Politics.

"And also because we never asked them."

The so-called BDS group  - Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions - calls for boycotts against the Jewish state and has pressured many artists to back out from working in and showing their work in Israel. For many Arab artists, the idea itself is blasphemous and many shun Israel.

So it's no surprise that Stolen Arab Art has provoked some strong reactions.

"People, you know, really they hate this act, both Palestinians and let's say leftist Israelis and Jews," says Krieger.

"We got all kinds of bad reactions, but also I got some very comforting emails and texts of support from friends, also Palestinian artists."

So why hold an exhibition on such shaky grounds?

Krieger hopes to create dialogue about Arab artwork among Israelis.

And exhibition visitors have heatedly debated a number of issues, including the legality of showing artwork without the consent of the artists.

Gallery patron Katalin Erdodi thinks the fact that the event is called Stolen Arab Art is already a guilty plea.

Supporters say the BDS movement is way to promote Palestinian rights through non-violent means. But Israel claims the campaign masks a deeper aim of de-legitimising or even destroying the country.

Israel has fought to stave off any inroads by the boycott movement, making lists of activists and denying them entry to the country.

It has formed a government ministry whose primary mission is to combat the group.

Krieger says there is a need to "shake up" the norms and  "think again about what art can do in order to bring about political change".

He chose to leave the names of the artists in the end titles of the film because he didn't want to edit their works in any way.

But he hopes to keep their names anonymous outside of the exhibition itself to prevent any negative repercussions or consequences for the artists.

This exhibition can be viewed in Tel Aviv until September 6.