Amichai Chasson (also Amichai Hasson, Hebrew: עמיחי חסון; born 1987) is an Israeli poet, curator and filmmaker. Since 2015, Chasson has served as the artistic director and chief curator at the Beit Avi Chai cultural museum in Jerusalem.[Barry Davis, Post COVID, Jerusalem's culture scene is bruised but very much alive, The Jerusalem Post, May 6, 2021][Barry Davis, Enjoying music and art through Beit Avi Chai online – “The Beit Avi Chai staff is continuously updating our special website for this period, and launching a new series of interactive online classes, lectures, programs for children and families.", The Jerusalem Post, April 2, 2020]
Biography
Amichai Chasson was born in
Ramat Gan, Israel, in 1987, to an
Orthodox Jewish family. His father is from Tripoli, Libya, and his mother, granddaughter of Samuel S. Bloom, is from New York City, United States.
[Vivian Eden, Of Yom Kippur and Baseball – Amichai Chasson’s poem ‘America’, Haaretz September 17, 2018.] Chasson attended state-religious schools in
Bnei Brak, and after high school, he moved to the hesder yeshiva in
Yeshivat Otniel.
[ Religious Jews Like Me Lost the Battle. The Extremists Won'] He studied at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School and the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem.
[ Fellows > Graduates: Mandel Program for Leadership in Jewish Culture in Mandel Leadership Institute]
Chasson lives in the Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem with his wife Dr. Miriam Chasson (sister of filmmaker Ori Elon and daughter of author Emuna Elon and rabbi Binyamin Elon). The couple has two sons and a daughter.[ Amichai Chasson & Vivian Eden — A Dialogue Between Two Poets, Tupelo Quarterly, March 31, 2023]
Journalism and literary career
Chasson has worked as a journalist and literary critic for the papers
Yedioth Ahronoth,
Makor Rishon, and
Maariv, and as a speechwriter for then President of Israel,
Reuven Rivlin.
[ Amichai Chasson in Hebrew Writers Association in Israel] He is an editor of the poetry journal
Meshiv Haruach; and is a broadcaster for the public radio channel Kan Tarbut – Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation ("Hitbodedut," a weekly discussion show together with
Yair Assulin).
His first book of poetry, "Talking with Home" (Hebrew: מדבר עם הבית), was published in 2015, and won the Minister of Culture's prize that year. In 2018, his second book, "Bli ma" (Hebrew: בלי מה), was published by the veteran Bialik Institute Press. His poems often deal with the tension between his religious faith and artistic sensibilities, and stand on the border between cultures, identities, sources and places.[ Poet Amichai Chasson in Poetry International]
In 2018, Nechama Rivlin presented the First Lady's Prize and the Dr Gardner Simon Prize for Hebrew Poetry to Chasson for his book "Bli ma", at a ceremony at Beit HaNassi in Jerusalem.[Greer Fay Cashman. IN JERUSALEM, at a ceremony at the President’s Residence, poet Amichai Hasson was awarded the Dr. Gardner Simon Prize for Hebrew Poetry for his book, The Jerusalem Post, January 1, 2019][ First Lady Nechama Rivlin has passed away at 73 in The Embassy of Israel to the United States][Arutz Sheva Staff Israel's First Lady, Nechama Rivlin, passes away, Arutz Sheva, June 4, 2019] A year later, the book was placed on the shortlist of finalists for the Brenner Prize for poetry.
In 2013, Chasson co-directed the documentary film "Footsteps in Jerusalem", a tribute to the late Israeli documentary filmmaker David Perlov.[ Footsteps in Jerusalem in Museum of Modern Art.] In 2018, he released a documentary film about the poet Avoth Yeshurun,[ Yeshurun in 6 Chapters in The Hebrews Project] called "Yeshurun in 6 Chapters" (Hebrew: ישורון: 6 פרקי אבות), which premiered at the Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival that same year.[ Yeshurun in 6 Chapters in Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival 2018] He has written and directed a number of films and TV series, including "The Conductor" ("Hamenatzeach") and "Iron Dome" ("Kipat Barzel"). In 2019, he participated in the Intellectual Incubator for Documentary Filmmakers convention at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.[ The Incubator for Documentary Filmmakers]
Chasson served in a number of public offices, including jury judge for the Sapir Prize in Literature in 2020, and in 2021 serving as a member of the and Mifal HaPais Council for the Culture and Arts.
Awards and recognition
Published works
Poetry
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2015 – Medaber eem ha bayit/Talking with Home (Even Hoshen Publishing)
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2018 – Bli Ma/Emptiness (Kvar Series, Bialik Institute)
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2022 – Shirim Al Saf/Liminal Poems (Kvar Series, Bialik Institute)
Edited books
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2019 – Man walks in the world: conversations with Abraham Joshua Heschel (Yedioth Sfarim Publishing)
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2017 - Nanopoetics: A Tribute to Allen Ginsberg (Poetry Place Publishing)
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2015 - Respite on a Green Island: A Tribute to Zelda (Meshiv Haruach Publishing)
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2014 - Company Required for the Holiday Season: Short Stories (IndiBook Publishing)
Filmography
Director
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2013 – Footsteps in Jerusalem: a tribute to In Jerusalem (Documentary film)
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2016 – On the Six Day (graduation movie in Sam Spiegel Film School)
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2018 – Yeshurun in 6 Chapters (Documentary film)
Screenwriter
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2017 – Kipat Barzel (TV drama)
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2018 – HaMenatzeah (TV drama)
Curated exhibitions
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2018 – Joel Kantor: Night Guard (exhibition and catalogue: curator and editor, Amichai Chasson), Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem
[Barry Davis, Exhibition “Night Guard” places the public back in the day, on the kibbutz It was great for the kids, and you’re free on a kibbutz, The Jerusalem Post, December 17, 2018]
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2019 – Emerging from the shadows: the photographs of Sarah Ayal (exhibition and catalogue: curator and editor, Amichai Chasson), Beit Avi Chai and The Knesset, Jerusalem
[Barry Davis, Art: Undercover through the lens, The Jerusalem Post, January 10, 2020]
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2022 – Marek Yanai: On the Threshold (exhibition and catalogue: curator and editor, Amichai Chasson), Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem
[Jessica Steinberg, Veteran Jerusalem artist paints small city moments in new exhibit, The Times of Israel, May 22, 2022][Liane Grunberg Wakabayashi, Painter Marek Yanai: A hidden treasure in plain view The On the Threshold exhibition of Marek Yanai’s art continues at Beit Avi Chai until the end of July, The Jerusalem Post, June 25, 2022
]
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2023 – Anatoli Kaplan: The Enchanted Artist (exhibition Curator and catalogue editor: David Rozenson, Amichai Chasson), Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem
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2024 - ''Pinchas Litvinovsky: You Must Choose Life—That is Art" (exhibition and catalogue: curator and editor, Amichai Chasson), Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem
External links
