born in Israel, 1954
lives and works in Kfar Shmaryahu and New York

Similar to the artists of "mail art" from the 1960s and 1970s, Batia Shani also exploits the open and democratic space available to anyone who purchases an envelope and a stamp and follows the rules of addressing the envelope. She embroiders and paints on envelopes, and then sends them to imaginary people and fabricated addresses throughout the world, while making sure to include the address of the sender. In this way, she ensures that the envelopes will be returned to her, after the fake address is not located.

Taking advantage of one of the popular and inexpensive services that are still available to us in a digital and privatized world, Batia Shani creates world-embracing artistic conduct. So far, viewers of her work have been postmen and mail clerks, people whose job is to examine the envelopes attentively, sort them and dispatch them to their destination. The mail clerks stamp the envelopes with "return to sender" or "there is no such street in Haifa," and thus add another visual element, albeit bureaucratic, to the collection of elements on the envelope.