11. Acknowledgements
A project like this does not happen in a vacuum—it takes a village.
Thank you to the Jewish Federation Los Angeles and Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles for providing lead financial support of The Sukkah Project: Force Majeure. To the Board of the Iranian American Jewish Federation for additional financial support. And to 30 Years After for facilitating contributions as the project’s fiscal sponsor.
To Bobco Metals and the Shooshani Family for graciously sponsoring the materials used to build the steel skeleton of the Sukkah. And to ZAL Industrial for providing critical hardware.
To my dear friend Yael Margalit who conspired and collaborated with me to bring this living garden to life. To Green Valley Growers and Greener Days Landscaping for lending over 200 plants to make the installation bloom.
To the National Library of Israel for opening its archive to me throughout this year and for contributing historical sound recordings to the work. Special thanks to the brilliant Dr. Amalia Kedem for sharing her knowledge with me, and to Naomi Schacter and Rachel Neiman for providing access to this incredible institution throughout the past year.
To my friends in Kibbutz Beeri and Kibbutz Nirim, especially Nieve Higgins, Yarden Tzemach and Ido Schwartz, who entrusted me with the sacred fragments that this sukkah is built around.
To Benaya Cohen, a soldier and forester, for guiding me through the mountains, rivers and valleys of Israel as I produced this installation.
To Arturo Ramirez, a friend and skilled artisan, who worked with me to weld the 1,000 pound steel substructure of the sukkah.
To Tomer Ronen and Omer Barzilay, for the technical production and sound design that enabled me to tell this story through sound.
To Brenda Boudaie, who created the project’s website with immense attention, care and love.
To Candice Navi, who lent her graphic design talents to create the exhibition’s visual signature.
To the staff of the Skirball for helping shepherd this project to completion. In particular, Julie Gumpert and Marlene Braga, who oversaw the project.
To Dakota Fine for capturing the process of creating the sukkah in LA on video with a skillful eye. And to Roy Berkovich who accompanied me with his camera throughout Israel to record its production there.
To Ashley Navid and Danielle Moses, who gave of their architectural prowess to help me engineer this sukkah.
To my incredible friends who lent their hands, heads and hearts throughout this process, and who are too many to name. They made this project a joy. I am especially grateful to Amit Shemesh, Ryan Sassouni, Diba Shooshani, Rachel Sumekh, Danielle York, Sigalit Perelson, Ben Scharfstein, Roi Pozniak, Isabel Maddahi and Amir Ahobim.
Most importantly, to my family who inspires me to create and to give. They are my North Star in everything I do. A special note of gratitude to my sister, Eliana, who has been by my side every step of the way.
And thank you, for being here.