"About Dam & Hofit" von Leila Zelli und Gali Blay
Ausstellung / Fensterprojektionen|Collective Forms of Care
- Price Free and open to the public.
- Part of series: Collective Forms of Care
About Dam and Hofit is the story of the forbidden friendship between Dam, the tip of mount Damavand in Iran and Hofit, an air force plane from Israel. Their unexpected encounter dares them to reimagine a friendship against all odds.
Since the Islamic revolution of Iran in 1979, Iran and Israel have canceled their diplomatic ties. Both governments have sworn to attack one another as soon as the opportunity arises. Any relationship between an Iranian and an Israeli is banned. Only in a distant and neutral place can the possibility of an encounter exist.
Leila Zelli (from Iran, based in Montreal, Canada) and Gali Blay (from Israel, based in Berlin, Germany), are two critical artists and film makers, who have decided to oppose the narrative of fear and rivalry created by the governments of Israel and Iran and create the short animation About Dam and Hofit.
While being aware of the risks and barriers in apossible collaboration between an Iranian and an Israeli artist, in April 2019, the two artists agreed to cross the lines and jump over the political rules they grew up with. This collaboration between an Israeli and an Iranian can have an immense impact and set an example for the future. Their friendship sets an example for a change that can come from ordinary people and not necessarily from the political situation.
The script is inspired and conducted from their daily conversations, the questions they dared to ask each other and the trust in the friendship they have developed. These meetings took place digitally for two years since the outbreak of Covid 19 in March 2020.
This work is presented as part of the exhibition Collective Practices of Care, curated by Erandy Vergara Vargas. The exhibition brings together four works by artists from Germany, the Netherlands and Canada, displayedon our windowsand library from 15 June to 6 September 2026. The works offer a constructive reflection on a hostile world, as well as an exploration of acts of solidarity and practices of care aimed at building communities.
Projections from sunset to 2 am, on the window screens of the Goethe-Institut (1626 St-Laurent Blvd, Montreal, Quebec, H2X 2T1). The works are also viewable on a screen in our library space during the Goethe-Institut’s opening hours:
from June 15 to July 5, 2026
from sunset to 2:00 a.m.
INSTITUTE OPENING HOURS
Monday: 5:30PM - 8:30 PM
Tuesday and Thursday: 2:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Wednesday: 9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Friday: 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM
The artists
Gali Blay
Gali Blay is an animation filmmaker based in Berlin, Germany, withnearly 15 years of experience crafting intricate visual narratives that blur the lines between fiction and reality.
Her work explores the intersection of art, politics, and storytelling, often using handcrafted miniatures, sets, and props to bring complex themes to life. She is currently developing the animated series Electric Water, a project inspired by true events that unfolds across two worlds—above and below the surface—where human drama and deep-sea mystery collide.
Notably, Blay was part of the miniature set-making teams for Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Asteroid City. Alongside collaborations with artists such as Leila Zelli (About Dam and Hofit, 2022), her films investigate human connection, conflict, and hope. Her work has screened internationally at festivals like Spark Animation (Canada), PÖFF Shorts (Estonia), and Athens Animfest (Greece), where it received a distinction in the experimental competition.
Her projects have also been exhibited in galleries and design events worldwide, including Jerusalem Design Week, Salone del Mobile (Milan), Wall Street Gallery (Eindhoven), and Fresh Paint (Tel Aviv).
Blay holds a BFA from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and an MFA (cum laude) in Social Design from the Design Academy Eindhoven. Born in New York and raised in Israel, she now creates her artistic worlds from her studio in Berlin.
Leila Zelli
Born in Tehran (Iran), Leila Zelli lives and works in Montréal. She holds an MFA (2020) and a BFA (2016) in Visual and Media Arts from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Zelli is interested in the relationship that we have with the ideas of “others” and “elsewhere” and more specifically within this geopolitical space often referred to by the questionable term “Middle East.” She creates in situ installations using existing images, videos and texts often found on the Internet. The resulting visual and sound experiences create an opportunity to reflect on the state of the world, the relationship with the Other and the actual effect of our actions on humanity.
Her work has been shown, among others, at Musée d’art de Joliette at Toronto Biennial of art (2024), at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, at Dazibao (2023), the Pierre-François Ouellette Gallery (2023-2021), the Bradley Ertaskiran Gallery (2020), at the Conseil des arts de Montréal (2019-2020) and at Galerie de l’UQAM (2024, 2020, 2019, 2015). Her works are part of MAC Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts collection, The Musée Pointe-à-Callière, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec’s Prêt d’oeuvres d’art collection, theMusée d’art de Joliette collection, the Musée d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul collection, the collection of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the collection of Hydro Québec, the collection of Desjardins and the collection of Galerie de l’UQÀM.
She is the laureate of the 2023 Prix Lynne-Cohen and the 2021 laureate of the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art. She is represented by Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain.
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Gali Blay
Artist
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Leila Zelli
Artist