Schusterman Center for Israel Studies

The Orientalist

Virtual Video Installation by Eitan Buganim

Curated by Dr. Rotem Rozental

The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies is proud to present "The Orientalist," online for the first time.

Conflating desires, miracles, magic and impending catastrophes, this multichannel video installation is composed of four short videos in full synchronization, arranged at exactly the same rate, with each crop, angle change, or dramatic action happening simultaneously. The soundtrack for each video is a popular Oriental Israeli song from the 1980s and 1990s, before this music genre broke into the mainstream.

The identical structure attempts to trace the rhythm and melody for each song, highlighting the emotional and social meanings of both the scenes unraveling on screen and the accompanying music.

Ready to dive in? Watch the videos below and see what response they evoke in you. Then read the curator's essay to reveal the layers of imagery, meaning, and context. After reading the interpretive text, you may wish to rewatch the videos to see how the new insights transform your experience.

On Monday, April 25, 2022, we marked the exhibition opening with a live, virtual conversation with Eitan Buganim and curator Rotem Rozental. We recorded the program and you can view it on our YouTube channel.

Watch the recording

Watch the Videos

Behind the Exhibition

• Meet the artist
• Meet the curator 

From the Curator

• “Enchanted I Went with Them into the Night:" on Eitan Buganim’s "The Orientalist"

The Woman That Hovered Under the Moonlight

The Crying Child

The Beggar

The Treacherous

“Enchanted I Went with Them into the Night:" on Eitan Buganim’s “The Orientalist”
by Dr. Rotem Rozental

 The most fantastical acts of sorcery require a structure, a system—an inherent logic that propels the improbable into existence. Eitan Buganim’s “The Orientalist,” a multi-channel video installation of four short films created in complete synchronization, engages the contradictions and connections between magic and mundane, intention and chance; from the depth of chaos that threatens to tear away at the everyday, and yet remains beneath the surface. The moment that precedes the eruption, the collapse of order, provides these videos their driving force. Continue reading...

This exhibition is held in conjunction with the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts at Brandeis, April 26-May 4, 2022.