Exhibitions
The Wave Effect - From a Japanese to Global Icon
New Exhibition
The concept of this exhibition touches on the three elements that make up the Great Wave -- wave, boats, and Mount Fuji. These elements are represented here in the works of Japanese and Israeli artists and are translated into the language of the period in which they were created. The element of the wave is examined through works in which it is a stylized force of nature, an ethereal boundary line, a metaphor for social isolation, and a representation of existential anxiety; not necessarily anxiety related to natural disasters. The element of boats between the waves is associated with works about war in Japanese art and with works dealing with personal and national assimilation in Israeli art. The element of the mountain appears in traditional Japanese works that emphasize different perspectives of the mountain, alongside Israeli artworks which express the attraction to the mountain. The exhibition also gives space to young artists who respond to the work using diverse visual means and in defiant and different ways.
Saturday, 31.05.25
Sussita
The Israeli motorcar industry became entwined with Israel’s life-story from the day the State was born.
The riveting narrative of the industry’s establishment in Haifa gives a glimpse of a vision: to make Israel a part of the international automobile scene. Its car factories, and especially the Autocars Company that assembled the familiar Sussita car, constitute a notable chapter in the first three decades of statehood.
Saturday, 26.04.25
Blood - Money - Ships | The Reparations Agreement with Germany as a Catalyst for the Growth of the Israeli Merchant Fleet
A new exhibition
The exhibition displays models of several ZIM shipping vessels, designed for various purposes. The first ship received under the agreement, Dagan, was used for cargo, as was the Ampa'al. The ships Israel and Zion were intended for mixed use of passengers and cargo, while Jerusalem served as a passenger ship. The ship Har Gilad, owned by El-Yam company, was used for general cargo and refrigerated transport. The exhibition also features historical moments in the ships' stories, documented in sources including news diaries, photographs, and promotional leaflets.
In the Shade of the Date Palm: Contemporary Print with a Haifa Perspective
Now in the museum
This exhibition - “In the Shade of the Date Palm” - invites the visitor to contemplate two points in time: Haifa as viewed by the artist Hermann Struck a century ago, and modern Haifa as it appears in the works of artists striving to answer these questions in their contemporary prints.
Tuesday, 20.05.25
Pirates - Between truth and legend
The phenomenon of piracy - piracy - has evolved since man began trading in ships, and it has flourished mainly in areas of loose rule. Piracy existed in ancient times in the Mediterranean and the Sea of China and reached its peak in the seventeenth century in the Atlantic Ocean, with the rise of European colonialism and the development of trade routes with the "New World".
The Space For Community Art: Gevere Ribka | Belay
Now at the museum
The works in the exhibition record male figures who have struggled for decades with an unabated will to adjust to a new place. Ribka chose to document them here, understanding that they have built a place that allows them to work at something they are good at, a place where they are able to create something new and reap the fruits of their success.
Saturday, 26.04.25
Fishermen and Fish | Fishing Culture in Artifacts from the Haifa Museums Collections
New exhibition
This exhibition invites viewers to observe the environment of fishing villages, blending with the shore and the marine landscape, and to take a quick glance at the narrow streets of markets filled with fresh fish. It also introduces works depicting the world of fishermen peacefully engaged in their craft, as well as the dedication of fishermen anchored in shipyards or venturing out into the vast sea. Viewers are invited to explore different fishing experiences—whether calm, dynamic, or stormy—and to face the challenges posed by nature along with the fishermen. Other works focus on the diversity of types of fish. Finally, upon returning to the shore, one can encounter marine gatherers at work and fishermen focusing on the meticulous task of mending nets, allowing for an inward, meditative experience.
Sunday, 01.02.26
A love song to the sea
The display invites visitors to a space full of love for the sea and connects them directly with the museum's new story. It features a display of bottled ships and models of ships from around the world created by sailors as part of the unique leisure culture that has evolved aboard ships sailing in the distance.
The Athlit Ram
One of the most important and rare discoveries of underwater archaeology in Israel is that of the Athlit ram. It was discovered by the late Yehoshua Ramon in 1980, in the northern bay of Athlit, and was retrieved from the sea by the staff and students of the Maritime Civilizations Department at the Centre for Marine Studies at Haifa University.
Anchors
One of the concerns of seafarers of all times has been how to halt their vessel in mid-ocean when necessary. The first sailors solved the problem by lowering a rock tied to a rope onto the sea-bed.