Noam Leshem for 'Human Nature’ in Oren River, Carmel Park, Israel - 20 images - Part 1/3 (Jul 2024)

Today I'm sharing a very special set with you all.

It's the 1st out of 3 parts session, made with my new friend, a beautifullll Israeli woman called Noam Leshem, 15min drive from Atlit, the place I grew up in Israel. Around here.

I'll share the next 2 parts in the coming days.

This is actually the 2nd 'new' art I'm sharing on my IG since the beginning of the war (Oct 7, 2023). The first one before was the first collab from my new project 'Making Art With the Enemy'. So ye, very special cornerstone art pieces, laying the foundation for a new period of rebirth.

I've written some words about it on this new IG post, I also shared 2 videos from her sunrise set at Midburn at the end of the carousel - I'll copy/paste the words here:

The Israeli Place

I left my homeland and moved to London 16 years ago. All my adult life, I felt Israel was too intense and I wasn’t strong enough to stay.

This war changed everything. Like a blessing in disguise, it forced me to be whole with myself. To accept and feel one with my Jewish and Israeli identity, something I rejected for many years.

This summer, I attended Midburn, the ‘Israeli Burning Man’, for the first time.

It happened despite the war, despite our enemies' efforts to break our spirit, terrify, and harm us daily.

The original event was scheduled exactly one month after Oct 7, about 10km from where the Nova massacre happened.

It was cancelled and against all odds, rescheduled in the Israeli desert for June 2024.

About 2500 burners attended that event, including several survivors from the Nova party.

Every person at Midburn lost someone dear during this war, had a friend or family held hostage in Gaza, or was fighting in the frontlines prior. Everyone and I were walking around with teary eyes and huge smiling happy faces - dancing again!

It was a monumental event, a burn that’ll go down in history as one of the most important burns in the history of all burns.

On Friday morning, a woman called Noam (=‘Pleasantness’ in Hebrew) was DJing a magical sunrise set at one of the stages.

As the sun rose behind her, the dance floor organically moved there too.

And exactly then, as the sun was peaking beyond the mountains, as Noam kept turning around to look at everyone dancing behind her with tears running down her smiling face, I could hear Thom Yorke’s voice singing Radiohead’s “Everything in Its Right Place” from a remix Noam was playing.

I connected with Noam and invited her to create photos together. A month after Midburn we met and made these photos near my hometown.

Today, more than ever, I am proud to be a Jewish Israeli artist, creating my art in Israel with other Israelis and sharing it with the world.

This truthfulness is making me feel stronger. It feels like, for the first time in a long time, everything is in its right place.

Photos: Noam Leshem for 'Human Nature’. July 16, 2024. Oren River, Carmel Park, Israel.

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THANK YOU for all of your support! 🙏

Ben 💗

PS I am sharing daily uncensored art inc a few new bits on X, Telegram and FetLife. Feel free to join & follow.