Roza Igzaw

Roza Igzaw (b. 1995, Ethiopia) is an interdisciplinary visual artist and art therapist based in the Arava Desert, Israel. Born in Ethiopia and raised in Israel, she is the first in her family to pursue higher education. Her practice explores identity, memory, and the body as a living archive, examining the tension between personal narrative and collective history. She understands her body and artistic materials as a living archive, one that carries and transmits multiple, interconnected layers of experience. At the same time, her work takes a distinctly practical approach, examining the points of connection between tradition and the present. She works primarily with natural, locally sourced materials to create installations and sculptural works. Her pieces bring together social, cultural, and ecological perspectives. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across Israel, including the solo show "Black-Bricks" at Artist House, Jerusalem (2025). She has received recognition including the Ashdod Municipality Prize for Visual Art (2024) and a project grant from the JCU Foundation (2025). Igzaw holds a B.Ed. in Art and Education from Seminar Hakibbutzim College, Tel Aviv, and an M.A. in Art Therapy.

Residency dates: 2. 8. – 30. 9. 2026

RESIDENCY PROJECT

During the residency, Roza will explore fantasy and dystopia as they surface within the experience of early motherhood, a state she views as charged with gendered, social, and cultural conflict. Her research approaches this experience through moments in which multiple timelines exist at once, allowing past, present, and future to converge within a single perceived instant. Alongside this inquiry, she will work with natural materials gathered from the surrounding environment, weaving them into an evolving archive of the maternal body.

EDUCATION

2025    M.A.A.T., Master’s Degree in Art Therapy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kibbutzim College, Tel Aviv

2023    B.Ed.F.A., Bachelor’s Degree, Faculty of Art, Kibbutzim College, Tel Aviv

2021    “Big Head Explorers” training course for trail guides and educators, focused on education and learning through nature

2019    Group Supervisor, “Avoda Ivrit” agricultural program in the Arava

2017    Social and ecological construction project

2017    Assistant to the CEO, “Bein Hashitin,” a nonprofit organization promoting education in the Arava

2017    “Avoda Ivrit” agricultural program in the Arava, managing plantations and export packing houses

EXHIBITIONS

2025    Solo exhibition, “Black Bricks,” The Artists’ House, Jerusalem. Curator: Michal Baror

2023    “From Individual Art to Collective Art,” The Artists’ House, Tel Aviv. Curator: Smadar Messing

2023    “End. Beginning,” Ahad Ha’am Gallery, Faculty of Art, Kibbutzim College, Tel Aviv. Curator: Michal Baror

2021    “In My Opinion, I Am the Rising Dawn,” Barbur House, Kfar Shalem, Tel Aviv. Curator: Avi Milgrom

all information is accurate as of July 2026.

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