The Origin of the  World 2017.
2 Tapestries . 29X48 cm.

Behind Elhanani’s latest works is the idea of joint art projects with disadvantaged communities. With the help of The Association for the Advancement of women *, Elhanani made contact with a Bedouin women embroidery group from the village of Laqia. Embroidery in general, and tapestry in particular, has a symbolic historical meaning in relation to women’s work. The notion of using traditional women’s labor, of Bedouin women, is related to the wish to spread the artistic  creative work to disadvantage communities, which, in turn, relates symbolically to the history ot the Dead Sea. The project “The Origin of the World” combines two tapestries, which were embroidered jointly with the group of Bedouin women, copying satellite photographs of the Dead Sea: one from 1958 and one from 2000. 
The photographs show clearly the changes that have occurred in the Dead Sea over the second half of the 20th century, the fast pace in which it is drying, and the ongoing decline of the sea level which has reached about 40 meters. This fast pace of drying  stands in the great contrast to the laborious manual pace of the tapestry embroidered. It is almost like a secret wish to stop the drying up process. The transfer from abode Photoshop processing to a satellite picture, from the screen to the manual embroidery of tapestries, links the historical periods and the artistic categories and is related to the post modern discourse about contemporary art and to the projects by artists who involve communities and are involved in them .