Location: Haifa, Israel
“We create our own small reality inside Israel. We won’t wait for the change to happen outside us, we try to live it ourselves. It is frustrating to live in a place where so many people are militant and racist, but it’s also our home.” --Broken Fingaz Crew
The art of the Broken Fingaz Crew like the graffiti of Tel Aviv or Jerusalem’s Tabula Rasa project has little if anything to do with the political and social realities of Israel. Rather it creates an alternative reality populated by psychedelic characters and images such as whales and mad hatters. It’s not that the crew is unaware or insensitive to the realities of living in Israel. They live and work in Haifa, a mixed Arab and Jewish city. Much of their art is featured on Masada Street where Arabs and Jews hang out in Arab-Jewish cafes. Members of the crew have served in the army, been invited to Ramallah parties, and have neighbors and friends who are Arabs. However, mostly, as shown in their recent London art exhibit in Brick Lane, they want to create a colorful psychedelic world that is open to everyone: “It’s kind of like stepping into an alternate reality, like a 3D comic book, but its image led rather than driven by a narrative. It’s visceral. When you see it you feel like you’re inside some kind of crazy dimension.”
Currently, their art has been sanctioned by the media and is being featured by the powers that be in Haifa. It was not always this way. They-Tant, Unga, Deso, and Kip - began as a group in 2001. They painted; the city erased; they painted; the city erased. But with media attention, the erasures stopped and the city began to show their art off. For a street artist, this has to be a little uncomfortable. They have painted outside Haifa from the border of Egypt to the Golan Heights and even inside some army bases. They are the first Israeli Street artists to have a show outside of Israel.
Slideshow Broken Fingaz Art Masada Street