Karam Natour (28) is one of the leading names in Israel’s contemporary art scene. Natour’s video art works have already been exhibited at the Tel Aviv Museum and in galleries in Croatia, Germany, and Switzerland. He works with Rosenfeld Gallery, and can credit to his name the 2019 Ministry of Culture award for an emerging video artist and the 2020 Kiefer Prize from the Wolf Foundation. He is also the youngest lecturer in the country at Bezalel Academy. Although his path to public recognition was fast, it was not without difficulty.
Natour was born in Nazareth and grew up in Shefa-‘Amr to a Muslim family and was educated as a Christian.After the bachelor’s degree in Screen Arts, he continued to a master’s degree in arts, also at Bezalel, and after finishing his studies he did not leave the institution, but stayed—this time as a lecturer. "Everything happened fast, but for me it felt harmonious and gradual".
Natour’s works often deal integrally with themes of national identity, language, family, estrangement, and multiple identities. His drawings also engage with social, political, and gender discourse. "Who I am in terms of national, religious, and geographic identity is important to me as a kind of set design and not as an essence. There is an autobiographical aspect in every work by every artist, and it integrates naturally and organically. For me, identity is not supposed to function as the lead actor in my works. The lead actor, the central motif, is the desire, the attempt, and the testing of different situations—and my attempt is to connect".