Flora Deborah's 'Semi' at Gaggenau DesignElementi in Rome

Flora Deborah, a Franco-Israeli artist born in Évian, raised in Milan, and based in Tel Aviv, presents 'Semi' at Gaggenau DesignElementi in Rome. The exhibition explores language, memory, and cultural hybridity through participatory works. Visitors are invited to deposit stones in a bowl, referencing Jewish tomb traditions. A video installation documents the artist's visit to Kibbutz Baram, where her parents met, and includes a work made from dead skin shed after walking barefoot, arranged into a house silhouette. A family tree of tongue casts highlights her multilingual heritage: Turkish (mother), French (father), Yiddish (paternal grandmother), Spanish (paternal grandfather), and Judeo-Spanish (maternal grandparents). A video 'Ojo Burakado' shows her grandmother performing rituals to ward off the evil eye. The work 'Kiss Me, I'm French' offers dark chocolate molded as the artist's tongue for visitors to eat, symbolizing communication. Owl-footed Lilith figures reference the mythological first wife of Adam, associated with female emancipation. The exhibition runs at Gaggenau DesignElementi in Rome in 2022.