Maya Smira is an award winning artist, photographer, director & lecturer, specializing in digital art, video, photography & installation. Working multidisciplinary with time based media, sound, performance, dance & movement. Her creative process is deeply involved in larger global and social issues and events, and is effected by her constant travels around the world.
Maya obtained her BA in Arts and Humanities from the Open University of Israel, BFA in photography from Minshar in Tel-Aviv (2012), MFA from the new genres department at the San Francisco Art Institute (2014), and teaching certificate at the Kibbutzim College of education and arts in Tel-Aviv (2020).
Her work has been shown in museums, galleries & festivals around the world
Education
2020-2021 Teaching certification, Kibbutzim College of Education, Israel
2012-2014 MFA, New Genres, San Francisco Art Institute, CA
2008-2012 BFA, Photography, Minshar for Art (with honors), Tel-Aviv, Israel
2008-2012 BA, Art & Humanities, The Open University (with honors), Israel
2007 Advanced Photography Training, Geographic center, Tel- Aviv, Israel
2003 Beginner Photography Training , The Rothchild center, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Teaching Experience
2021-2022 Photography Professor, Minshar for Art, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2021-2022 Art Teacher, Hashmonaim Elementry School, Ramat Gan, Israel
2015-2021 Independent Yoga & Movement Teacher, Classes & Workshops Worldwide
2013-2014 Teaching Assistant, Photo & New Genres dept, San Francisco Art Institute, CA
2012-2014 Gallery Assistant (Guidance, Installation), Walter and McBean Gallery, SF, CA
Awards & Grants
2018 Honorable Mention, International Photography Awards, NYC
2016 Exhibition Grant by the Cultural Department of Tel-Aviv Municipality and
Yehoshua Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts
2016 Outset Award for Video Greenhouse Artist, Fresh Paint Art Fair, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2014 Finalist Award, LG Art of the Pixel Contest, New York City, NY
2014 Ella King Torrey Award, Commencement Ceremony, San Francisco Art Institute, CA
2014 Paul Sacks Building Award, Honorable mention, Academic Honors and Awards
Ceremony, The Photography Program, San Francisco Art Institute, CA
2013 Christopher Coppola “Pah” Festival, Cellphone Art First Prize
2013 Christopher Coppola “Pah” Festival, Mobiflicks Competition First Prize
Residencies
2024 Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Artists’ Greenhouse for Excellence in Musrara
2022 Jaffa Well Art Center, Supported by Tel-Aviv Municipality, Israel
2022 Nahariya Water Tower, supported by Nahariya Municipality, Israel
2022 The Lab Art Space, Artist Residency Program, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2021 Arad Contemporary Art Center, supported by Arad Municipality, Israel
2021 Kol Ha’Ot Jerusalem Artist residency program, Israel
2020 Nakanojo Biennale Remote Artist Residency Program, Japan
2019 Swatch Art Peace Hotel Artist Residency Program, Shanghai, China
2018 Artist in Residence Program, The Freezer Cultural Center, Riff, Iceland
2016 AICAD Studio Residency Program, NYC
2014 ESXLA Artist in Residence Program, LA, CA
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Heart of the Glacier, Arad Contemporary Art Center, Curator Leah Abir, Arad, Israel
2023 Invisible City, Jaffa Well Culture Center, Curated by Tal Margalit, Jaffa, Israel
Supported by Tel Aviv - Jaffa municipality
2022 Luminaries, The Lab art space, curated by Sharon Toval, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2020 Dancing Stillness, Wilfrid Israel Museum of Asian Art, Kibbutz Hazoreaa, Israel
2019 Balada, Contemporary Art Center Ramla, Curated by Smadar Sheffi, Ramla, Israel
2019 Tension, Brownie Project Art Gallery, Curated by Peipei Han, Shanghai, China
2018 Playground, Gordon-London House, Curated by Efi Gen, Municipal Art Gallery
Rishon Lezion, Israel
2017 Present Perfect, Artists House Tel-Aviv, Curated by Sharon Toval, Supported by
Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Israel
2016 Intervention, Minshar Gallery, Curated by Oded Yedaaya, Supported by Tel-Aviv
City Cultural department & Rabinovich Foundation, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2013 Code Name: Thailand, Paul Sacks Still Lights Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 Coming soon- Mandel Artists’ Greenhouse for Excellence in Musrara
2024 Ein Hod Contemporary Art Gallery, curator Zeela Kotler Hadari
2024 Fever Dream, Supermarket Art Fair Stockholm, Curator Annie Reiniger Holleb
2024 In-Flux, Museum of Northern California Art, curator Jeremy P.H. Morgan
2024 Anima Mundi, Teo Cultural Center, Herzeliya, Curator Gabi Yair, Israel
2023 Plastic Print, Teo Cultural Center Herzeliya, Curators Beenee See, Vera Pilpoul, Israel
2022 Apparent: The Political Body, The GH Art Gallery, Curated by Daniella Saraya, Israel
2022 Catastrophe Screening Nights, P8 Gallery, Curated by Lee Barbu, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2022 Coexistence, Photo Israel Center exhibition, Curated by Yaara Raz, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2021 Photo Israel, Dubai Expo, Curated by Eyal Landsman, United Emirates
2021 Three Turns, Untitled Art Fair, Curated by Tony Labat, Miami, FL
2021 3 Exhibitions at the Biennale of Jerusalem, Directed by Rami Ozeri, Jerusalem, Israel
2021 Capsule, Supreme Court Gallery of Israel, Curated by Dr. Orna Yair, Jerusalem, Israel
2021 Nakanojo Biennale, International art festival, Japan
2021 Circle at CICA Museum, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, Korea
2021 Heat & Dust, Between India & Zion, India International Center, New-Delhi, Curated by
Dr.Shimon Lev & Yael Margalit
2021 Jerusalem Nights, Jerusalem Biennale Gallery, Curated by Ram Ozeri, Vera Pilpoul
2020 From the Tower, video projection at San Francisco Art Institute Tower, CA
2020 Post Industrialism, Millepiani exhibition space, Rome, Italy
2020 Le Luci della Speranze, Acribia Cultural Association, Torino, Italy
2020 Dark Water, Municipal Gallery Ramat Hasharon, Curated by Ravit Harari, Israel
2019 Bitter Sweet, Muza Plus Art Project, Muzeum Sztuki of Lodz, Poland
2019 Prom, Beit Tami, Curated by Carmit Blumensohn for Fresh Paint Art Fair, Tel-Aviv
2019 Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition, York Art Gallery, UK
2019 Now With Noise, Weizmann Institute of Science, Curated by Yivsam Azgad, Israel
2019 Concealed between Interior & Exterior, Rehovot Art Gallery, Curated by Ora Kraus
2019 Checks and Balances video screening, Parallel Toronto, Canada
2018-19 I to Eye, curated by Shirl Meller-Yamaguchi, Israel Museum, Jerusalem Israel
2018 International Photography Festival, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2018 Life, Fund Raise Exhibition, Bialik Rogozin Museum, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2018 Spirit of Israel Fund Raise Exhibition, Erez Israel Museum, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2018 Miami New Media Festival, Florida
2018 Musrara Mix Festival, Jerusalem, Israel
2018 Pillar of Cloud, Hermann Struck Museum, Haifa Israel
2017 International Photography Festival, Tel-Aviv Israel
2017 Empire II, Spektrum Berlin, curated by Vanya Balogh, Germany
2017 Songzhuang International Photo Biennale , Beijing, China
2017 LACDA Curated by Anna Katz & Dhyandra Lawson, LA, CA
2017 Empire II, Castello, la Biennale di Venezia, Italy
2017 Saatchi Screen at Saatchi Gallery, London, England
2017 Prime Time, Central Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2017 HerzeLilienbloom Museum, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2017 X is for Xenophobia, Steinfeld Warehouse Community Arts Center, Tucson, AZ
2017 MADATAC International Video Festival, Madrid, Spain
2017 Capture the Moment Photo Exhibition, Galleri Norsken, Stockholm, Sweden
2016 Teddy Gallery, Curated by Carmit Blumensohn, Jerusalem, Israel
2016 Haaretz Photo Exhibition, Binyamin & Indie Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2016 Avi International Video Festival, Cinema City, Jerusalem, Israel
2016 San Francisco Art Institute Alumni Exhibition, curated by Katya Min, SF, CA
2016 Petach Tikva Museum, Video Stage curated by Or Tshuva, Petach Tikva, Israel
2016 International Festival TANZTENDENZEN 2016 Greifswald, Germany
2016 Spirit of Israel Fund Raise Exhibition, Shenkar College of Art, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2016 Haifa Museum of Art,Curated by Svetlana Reingold, Haifa, Israel
2016 Fresh Paint Contemporary Art Fair, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2015 See Me, Florentin 45 Contemporary Art Space, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2015 See Me Exhibitions, Landscape Collection, Musee du Louvre, Paris, France
2015 Bearing Witness: Surveillance in the Drone Age, San Francisco International Art Festival, Fort Mason, SF, CA
2015 Everybody's Ocean, Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, CA
2015 Living with Endangered Languages, Root Division, SF, CA
2015 The Smell Of Dust, Photography & live performance, Sau Paulo, Brazil
2014 Fresh, South Bay Contemporary, Rolling Hills Estate, CA
2014 APAture, Kearny Street Workshop, Arc Gallery, SF, CA
2014 LACDA Art Fair, Center of Digital Art, Los Angeles, CA
2014 Stoff, Stockholm Fringe Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
2014 Night Light , SomArts , SF, CA
2014 Art Basel Contemporary Art Fair, Galeria Zero, Basel, Switzerland
2014 Experimental Film Festival Portland, Disjecta Art Center, Portland, OR
2014 Principal, SFAI MFA Exhibition, The Old Mint, SF, CA
2014 Generation, SFAI & CCA Collaboration, Some Thing Spacious, Oakland, CA
2014 Emerging Artists Exhibition, University Art Gallery, CSU East Bay, CA
2014 Imagining Cityscapes, Swell Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014 Group Study, Refusalon Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013 Cubic Sound2, The Lab, San Francisco, CA
2013 Borderline, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013 Sirens, Paul Sacks Still Lights Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013 Untenable Dynamism, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013 Code Name: Thailand, Paul Sacks Still Lights Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 Balls Out, Queens Nails Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 Then and Now, Paul Sacks Still Light Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 Minshar Graduation Exhibition, Minshar for Art, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2012 Israeli Film Festival Exposition, Cinema des Cineastes, Paris, France
2011 Photography Students & Neighboring Communities, Hangar 2, Jaffa Harbor, Israel
2009 TLV 100, The Jewish Museum, Vienna, Austria
Selected Publications
Time Out Tel-Aviv, Recommended Exhibitions, Reut Barnea, Israel, May 2022
Challenge & Obedience, Dvarim, Oranim College Academic Magazine, Israel, December 2021
Heat & Dust Between Israel & India, Shimon Lev, IIC Quarterly, New Delhi, Autom 2021
Dark Water, Exhibition Catalogue, Ravit Harari, Municipal Gallery Ramat Hasharon, Israel 2020
Dancing Stillness, Art Today Magazine, Israel, September 2020
Interview at Ma Kore Section, Portfolio Magazine, Israel, August 2020
Beyond Mirror, Ziva Kort’s Art Blog, Israel, August 2020
From India, Talking Art, Israel, July 2020,
Beloved, The window, Smadar Sheffi , Israel, December 2019
The Memory of Relationships, Mid Day newspaper in Mumbai, Ela Das, India, July 2021
Art On Campus, Yivsam Azgad, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, 2019
Rehovot News, Art Science & Inbetween, Erez Shrointer, Israel, July 2019
Concealed Between Interior 7 Exterior, Exhibition Catalogue, Rehovot Municipal Gallery, Feb 2019
Leaning on Iran, Interview by Reut Barnea, Calcalist Newspaper, Israel , July 2018
I to Eye, Exhibition Catalogue, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel, June 2018
Spring-Summer, Exhibition Catalogue, Municipal Gallery Rishon Le Zion, Israel, May 2018
Ride or Die, Dodho Photography Magazine, Barcelona, Spain, February 2017
Songzhuang Photo Book, Songzhuang International Photo Biennale ,Beijing, China ,2017 Magazine, Israel, August 2016
Hai Po, Haifa News, Hadas Ben Arzi, Israel, July 2016
Present perfect, Exhibition Catalogue, Tel-Aviv, Israel, June 2016
The Exposure Award, The Landscape Collection, See Me and Scope Art Show, Paris, France, 2015
Israeli Lens, Fine Art Photography Magazine, Tel-Aviv, Israel, December 2014
Art In America Magazine, NY, August 2014 Issue
MFA Exhibition Catalog, San Francisco Art Institute, CA, 2014
Zine Colloquy, Jessica Montgomery, SF, CA , 2014
MFA Now Archive Project, Root Division, SF, CA, 2014
MFA Now Archive Project, Root Division, SF, CA, 2013
Erev Rav: Art. Culture. Society, Shani Varner, Tel-Aviv, Israel, July 2012
Minshar For Art Graduate Catalog, Tel-Aviv, Israel, July 2012
Calcalist Magazine Promising Artists, Tel-Aviv, Israel, March 2013
Selected Collections
Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai
The Biennale of Jerusalem
Fatal Hotel Chain
Womens Health Hospital Collection
Privat