Tal Shimizu - Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center

School of Ceramic Art (1)
- Local Artist Residency Program
The Benyamini School of Ceramic Art is a professional center offering courses for beginners, intermediate and advanced students, artists, and designers who want to work with clay. The school has a team of professional lecturers running a year-round program of courses in practical and theoretical aspects of ceramics as well as a three- year recognized diploma program, workshops, lectures, and master classes with artists from Israel and abroad.
Gallery (2)
The galleries at the Benyamini Center initiate dialogue about material culture, contemporary ceramics, design, art, architecture and craft. The exhibitions in the various gallery spaces raise relevant questions about these fields of knowledge taking a broad, interdisciplinary approach, and relate to the complex environment we inhabit.

Head curator: Dr Shlomit Bauman
Curators of the Small Gallery: Reut Rabuah, Shelly Shavit
Events and Special Programming (3)
This program aims to broaden the dialogue of the various aspects of ceramics and material culture, and includies lectures, masterclasses, gallery talks, symposia and special events that are planned throughout the year. Each meeting brings diverse views of the ceramic field locally and globally in contemporary and historical culture. We invite makers, designers and artists from various media and our activities are suitable for professional audiences as well as the general public.
In addition, the Benyamini Center places great importance on community involvement and during the year, participates in projects for and with the local community.
Library (4)
- Ceramic Magazines
- Digital data base of Israeli ceramics
The Library carries close to 1200 books on all aspects of the ceramic arts: Studio ceramics, Design, Pottery, How-to, History of ceramics, Israeli ceramics, Textbooks etc.. They represent most of the ceramics books available today worldwide. The Library also carries all the important international ceramic magazines and has a growing archive of "Israeli Ceramics" from its inception till today. The Library is constantly updated with the newest releases. It is accompanied with an updated database which can be viewed on the Benyamini internet site (it lists the Categories and Keywords for easy search). The aim of the Library is to familiarize professionals in the field, students, and the public at large with the ceramic field in all its richness, and be a well-equipped research center, as well as a learning source for the Benyamini Ceramic Art School.
International (5)
- Benyamini Center Abroad
- International Residency Programs
The international activities at the Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center are a two way operation – outward and inward – in an effort to establish Israeli ceramic art as part of the international clay community and to contribute to its professional dialogue with the world. In order to initiate global ties and launch international connections, we reach out to the global community by participating in international projects, conferences and symposia as a path of integration in relevant professional conversations worldwide. Conversely, in order to bring the world to us in a variety of professional programs, we host international residencies and promote, produce and lead international conferences and symposia. These are productive and challenging platforms for sharing thoughts and ideas in relevant social, professional and political issues.
Benyamini Center (6)
The Issachar and Yehudit Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center promotes ceramic art and design in a vibrant atmosphere of creativity for professional artists as well as the general public. Through the on-going activities we wish to create a dialogue between the various aspects of ceramics and extend its scope in the broad spectrum of material culture.

The Benyamini center is located in Kiryat Hamelacha in south Tel Aviv in an area that has become the hub of contemporary art in the city with many galleries and artist studios in the area. It is a public non-profit organization founded in 2001.
Contact (7)

Tal Shimizu is an artist, educator, and lecturer specializing in traditional Japanese painting, the Japanese language, and the culture of Japan.

Her journey in Japan began in 1991 with Japanese language studies in Tokyo. She graduated with honors from official language programs, including the Japanese government proficiency examinations. Upon returning to Israel, she completed her degree in Japanese Studies and Translation at Tel Aviv University.

Parallel to her linguistic studies, she dedicated herself to the art of Sumi-e (Japanese ink painting) and the aesthetic traditions of China and Japan. Both her creative work and her pedagogy are rooted in the classical foundations of the discipline as they have been refined and transmitted over centuries.

Her teaching goes beyond technical instruction, offering an understanding Japanese culture through literary and cinematic sources. Japanese literature, philosophy, and cinema are woven into her process to expand the artistic gaze and serve as tools for exploring the relationship between line, space, and consciousness.

A constant engagement with traditional Japanese crafts eventually led to a profound interest in ceramics, which in recent years has harmoniously integrated with her ink painting. The intersection of brush, ink, and clay creates a space where the two-dimensional line is charged with physical presence, allowing classical tradition to find expression in original, contemporary creation.

Shimizu teaches and lectures within various cultural and artistic frameworks. She offers an immersive process that combines the precise practice of brushwork with a broad conceptual understanding—moving from traditional foundations toward the development of a personal artistic language.

Biography

Selected Works

טל שימיזו
טל שימיזו
טל שימיזו
טל שימיזו
טל שימיזו

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