A 2003–2005 International Partnerships Among Museums (IPAM) award gave rise to a successful international exhibition of contemporary Israeli jewelry, titled "Women's Tales: Four Leading Israeli Jewelers." The exhibition was conceived through IPAM-sponsored residencies between the Racine Art Museum (RAM) in Wisconsin and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Month-long IPAM residencies at one another's museums enabled Davira Taragin, director of exhibitions and programs at RAM, and Alexander Ward, curator of design at the Israel Museum, to plan for the exhibition by interviewing leading Israeli jewelry artists, selecting objects and conceiving the exhibition catalogue. Together, they designed "Women's Tales" to illustrate Israel's diverse culture and detail Israeli artists' use of oriental heritages mixed with 20th-century European tradition and thought.

Featured Israeli artists Bianca Eshel-Gershuni, Vered Kaminski, Esther Knobel and Deganit Stern Schocken share their experiences as wives and mothers in the midst of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The 130 pieces of jewelry and vessels in the exhibition, made primarily of plastic, turtle shells, soda cans and camels' teeth, reveal much about the women who created them and the turbulent society that formed their artistic sensibility.

The exhibition drew nearly 13,000 visitors during its international debut in Racine and provided viewers insight into Israel's vibrant culture, as well as a rich international perspective from which to interpret RAM's collection of contemporary American crafts. RAM organized four hands-on art workshops that attracted approximately 1,200 children and family members, and three of the featured artists traveled to Racine from Israel to speak about their work.

"Women's Tales" is on view at the Bellevue Arts Museum in Seattle through June 17, after which it will continue its world tour and close at the Israel Museum between 2009 and 2010.—Francine Rinzel

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