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Adina Kamien (; born April 7, 1971) is an American-born Israeli curator. She is senior curator and head of the Modern Art department at the Israel Museum, and a lecturer in modern art and curatorial studies at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem. She has curated numerous exhibitions in Israel, United States, Europe and Asia, and published widely on Dada and Surrealism.
In 1989-1991, Kamien served in the Israel Defense Forces. In 1994, she graduated with honors from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a BA in Psychology and General Studies. She went on to earn MA degrees in Clinical Psychology and Art History in 2001. "Automatism and Rorschach: Probing the Unconscious," an article based on her thesis, was published in Surrealism and Beyond in the Israel Museum. Surrealism and Beyond in the Israel Museum, 2007
In 2012, Kamien was awarded a PhD from the Department of Art History and Theory at the University of Essex, England, which collaborates with the Centre for the Study of Surrealism and its Legacies then headed by Dawn Ades. Her dissertation, "Remaking the Readymade: Duchamp and Man Ray in the Galleria Schwarz," formed the basis for her book on the subject of originality and replication. Remaking the Readymade: Duchamp, Man Ray, and the Conundrum of the Replica (Studies in Surrealism) During her doctoral studies, Kamien received the Overseas Research Scholarship awarded to international PhD students in the UK. Adina Kamien
Man Ray: Human Equations (2015), Past Exhibitions co-curated by Kamien with Wendy Grossman, Andrew Strauss and Edouard Sebline, focused on Man Ray's "Shakespearean Equations," inspired by his photographs of three-dimensional mathematical objects and displayed for the first time together with the original models from the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris. The exhibition was also shown at The Phillips Collection in Washington and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. Equations: A Journey From Mathematics to Shakespeare
Twilight over Berlin (2016) Past exhibitions was a collaboration with the Neue Nationalgalerie on an exhibition of works from pre-World War II art movements such as German Expressionism, New Objectivity, Dada, and Bauhaus. Many of these works were outlawed by the Nazis as "degenerate". Masterpiece from the Nationalgalerie on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem According to Kamien, the success of the show, which was extended due to popular demand, lay in the fact that "Israelis are very thirsty for the expression of a time that is so critical to our history." "German Art Rejected by Nazis is Embraced in Israel", New York Times
No Place Like Home (2017), Past exhibitions shown at the Israel Museum and the Berardo Collection Museum (2018) examined how contemporary artists have used household items in ways that subvert their everyday function and meanings. Coleção Berardo: 'No Place Like Home' At a conference in 2017, Kamien spoke about what happens when objects-turned-artworks are placed in a "quasi-home" in the museum. "Home is where the art is", Jerusalem Post The exhibition mimicked the layout of a home, complete with an Ikea-inspired catalogue. "Jerusalem art exhibit with housewares, urinal at center hits home", Times of Israel Among the highlights of the exhibit were Marcel Duchamp's repurposed urinal and the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's Untitled (Ironing Board) Jerusalem art show turns 'home' inside out
Bodyscapes (2020) Past exhibitions focused on the relationship between body, nature and the cosmos since prehistoric times. According to Kamien, humans over the ages have sought to tie the mysteries of the human body to rational structures, like geometry. An example is the work of Le Corbusier, who designed a measurement system based on body proportions. Body Issues: Artists' Maps of the Human Body Reveal Our Desire for Immortality
Fields of Abstraction (2022) Past exhibitions was a show of 43 abstract paintings from the Israel Museum's collection, 24 of them presented to the public for the first time. At the opening Kamien described abstract painting as "distilling the essence of things". "Abstract fields forever at the Israel Museum", Jerusalem Post "Fields of Abstraction" was named by Christie's as one of the best exhibitions in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and South America in 2022. Big hit: Praised Israel Museum abstract art show unleashes once-hidden huge works
Umbilicus (2024), Contemporary Israeli art in the Kishle co-curated with Malu Zayon and mounted at the Kishle, a police station and former Turkish prison which is part of the Tower of David complex in Jerusalem, created a dialogue between archaeology and contemporary art. Kamien says one of her goals was to create a refuge in the trying times facing Israel after October 7. "Contemporary art exhibit takes visitors to the 'navel' of ancient Jerusalem", Times of Israel
Lucid Dreams (2024), an exhibition curated by Kamien at the Israel Museum, showcases 180 works that investigate dreams in art, material culture and new media from a multicultural perspective. Israel Museum celebrates 60th anniversary with two surrealist exhibitions The exhibition, marking the centenary of Andre Breton's Manifesto of Surrealism (1924), leads visitors through a long, lit corridor to multiple rooms that explore the "magical and fantastical imagery of dreams." The layout was inspired by Breton's 1935 surrealist assemblage "Dream Object," featuring cardboard doors set along a red hallway. What dreams may come: Surrealistic exhibits mark start of Israel Museum's 60th year, Times of Israel The exhibition includes the work of foreign artists, such as the British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare with his play on Francisco Goya's "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters." "Israel Museum's Exhibition Marking Surrealism's Centennial Is Absolutely Dreamy. But, Who Is the Dreamer?", Haaretz However, most of the artists on show are Israelis. "Israeli Museums in a Time of War: Almost No Foreign Artists, No Tourists – and Rummaging Through Storerooms", Haaretz
At the core of the exhibition is Kamien's thesis that artists throughout history have used dreams, which are fundamental to surrealism, as a basis for experimentation and creative vision. "Two new shows at the Israel Museum expound on the subconscious", Jerusalem Post She says the idea is for visitors to wander through the exhibit in a kind of dream state, not in a "linear line" but through an emotionally fraught "architecture of dreams." Dina Goldstein at the Israel Museum, Portfolio
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