Rotem Tamir is an artist whose work engages with global conversations about migration, transcultural identities, and the complexities of belonging. Drawing from their Sephardic heritage, Tamir explores how objects and traditions morph as they travel with their makers through time and place, carrying cultural sentiments, passed-down knowledge, and collective narratives. Through sculpture and installation, their practice bridges the physical and the transcendent, crafting spaces where histories, personal stories, and cultural traditions meet, overlap, and evolve.
Tamir’s work has been exhibited at venues including the Rochester Art Center (Rochester, MN), Haifa City Museum (Haifa, Israel), Locust Projects (Miami, FL), the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum (Minneapolis, MN), Ha’Kibbutz Gallery (Tel Aviv, Israel), the Harn Museum (Gainesville, FL), and the BCA Center (Burlington, VT), among others. They are a 2021 McKnight Visual Artist Fellow and have received awards and grants such as the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship, Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council Project Support Grant, and an Exhibition Grant from Artis Contemporary, New York, NY. Their work has been featured in publications including Hyperallergic, ArtSlant, City Mouse, Haaretz, and Erev Rav.
Tamir has participated in prestigious residencies such as the Jackman Goldwasser Residency (Chicago, IL), Art OMI International Arts Center (Ghent, NY), Sculpture Space (Utica, NY), and Franconia Sculpture Park (Shafer, MN). They work both independently and in collaboration with their partner, Omri Zin, as well as with artists and artisans from local and global communities. Tamir is an Assistant Professor in Sculpture at the Department of Art at the University of Minnesota and lives in Minneapolis, MN, with their partner and son.
Rima: Passages in Sephardic Sculpture
By Rotem Tamir
The catalog is available to view online, but if you’d like to support my work, please consider purchasing a hard copy. This bilingual edition, in English and Hebrew, features high-quality images by photographer Rik Sferra, insightful commentary from curator Sharon Toval, and contributions from Mizrahi feminist scholar Ketzia Alon.