Dani Karavan

Dani Karavan (1930-2021)

Born in Tel Aviv. His father, Avraham, was the city’s chief landscape architect from the 1940s to the 1960s.  He completed his art studies at the Bezalel School of Art and Design in Jerusalem, studying with Mordechai Ardon, as well as Avigdor Steimatzky, Israel Streichman, Aharon Avni, and Marcel Janco. In 1950 he studied set design with Immanuel Luftglas in Kibbutz Givat Haviva, and with Paul Levi at the Dramatic School of Tel Aviv’s Cameri Theater.

Karavan is considered one of the pioneers of environmental sculpture in Israel and worldwide. His major works include the front wall of the Knesset assembly hall, the Negev Brigade Monument in Beersheba, the wall reliefs and iron statue at the Court of Justice in Tel Aviv, the White Square at the Tel Aviv Wolfson Park, the Yitzhak Rabin Tolerance Garden at UNESCO Square in Paris, and the Tower of Tears memorial installation at the Armored Corps Museum in Latrun.

Karavan’s first work as a dance set designer was for Inbal dance company’s Book of Ruth (1962) by Sara Levi-Tanai, a set inspired by Martha Graham’s work and the way she integrated set design with dance. On that same year, he designed a set for the Graham company, the dance Legend of Judith, which premiered in Israel, as well as for her Dream (1974), the only original dance choreographed by Graham for Batsheva. In 1965-1976, he designed the sets for fifteen Batsheva dance pieces: Tent of Visions (1965); The Betrothal, Side Show, Women in a Tent (1966); Voices of Fire, Reflections (1967); Sin Lieth at the Door (1969); Time for Waiting, Ein Dor (1970); Moon Full, Divertissements in the Play Ground of the Zodiac (1972); Dream, Puppets of Death (1974); Games We Play (1975); Until That I Arose (Reflections on Deborah the Prophetess) (1976). Karavan served as Batsheva’s artistic consultant since its establishment and as its set manager from 1975-1977, and served as a member of its public council.

Karavan won several international awards, including the Israel Prize for Sculpture (1977), UNESCO Picasso Medal (1994), Kaiser Ring (1996), the Japanese Praemium Imperiale Award, and the Piepenbrock Prize for Sculpture (2004).