Milky Way (Hamerkazit)

Milky Way is the name of a group of artists and architects who in 2011-2012 re-activated the deserted old central station in Neve Sha'anan neighbourhood in Tel Aviv and transformed into a temporary cultural center. 

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The old station had its heyday. It was the main throughway of Israel, even to Cairo. A bustling center with oriental restaurants and music, shops and tens of thousands of commuters passing through it every morning and eve. Since the opening of the new central station, the old station had grown redundant and gradually transformed into an exposed public space in which the most transparent people living among us reside. 

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Low rental costs, accessible raw materials, and the diversity of its population drew many of the culture class of Tel Aviv to the neighbourhood. The desolate state of affairs and with it, the potential of Neve Sha’anan neighbourhood, was the starting point of a project by Milky Way, a group of artists and activists from Tel Aviv. The project included a series of events, exhibitions and demonstrated to the Tel Aviv municipality the potential of art and artists in underdeveloped neighbourhoods. 

 

Participating artists: Eyal Engelmeyer / ASF (Refugee Aid Organization) / Junction - Recycling Art / Gal Levin / Dennis Survival / The Negev 5 / Zamir Schatz / Yasha Rozov / Yair Garbuz / Yaakov Sasson / Yoav Weiss / Israel For Bicycles / Lance Hunter / Lior Waterman / Miriam Rivlin / Salit - Assisting Women in Prostitution / Adi Yekutieli / Oz Malul / Schleimzal / Radio Khalas / Physicians for Human Rights / Tamir Lichtenberg / NX2

 

The first of a series of events held in the old station included a bicycle center, an AIDS information stop, a give-and-take shop, urban ecological services, local radio station, recycling warehouse, community garden, petting and adoption area, studios, photo studio, study and municipal information center. Performances included poetry reading, a make-up artist, musicians and artists. Free food was distributed to all visitors to the site. The event is part of the  CCS - Cross Culture Station project, prepared by us for the Tel Aviv Municipality Department of Strategic Planning, Engineering Director.