Roy Brand, Yaffo 23

Roy Brand is the director and chief curator of Yaffo 23, a Jerusalem-based contemporary art space named after the address that it occupies, which also happens to be just above one of Jerusalem’s busiest destinations—it’s main post office. The initiative’s main gallery, which neighbors the walled Old City, is an outpost of Israel’s first art academy: Bezalel. Marisa Mazia Katz visited the impressive space in 2011, which hosts multi-media exhibits in addition to artist residencies, during the Jerusalem Season of Culture- a summer event that takes place across the city and features artists from Israel and around the world. Roy, who is also a professor at New York’s Sarah Lawrence College, sat down to discuss the vision for Yaffo 23 and what its like working with contemporary art in this very ancient city.

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