1. Welcome

Created for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, this immersive installation by multidisciplinary artist Jonathan York explores the powerful interplay between destruction and renewal, loss and hope. Force Majeure, the sixth iteration of the artist’s Sukkah Project, invites viewers into a space where nature, history, and memory converge. Burnt wood, including small pieces gathered from homes destroyed during the October 7 terrorist attacks, stands in stark contrast to the living garden, which symbolizes resilience and the enduring force of life. Hebrew poems by twelfth century Sephardic Jewish scholar Yehuda HaLevi engraved into the wood deepen the historical and spiritual dimensions of this work, while a soundscape of natural and archival recordings from across Israel envelops the space. This installation reflects York’s journey through Israel over the past year and his ongoing exploration of the sukkah as both a spiritual symbol and a contemporary artistic medium.