Exhibition opening: "I see something you don't see. Germany. Israel. Insights."

With the exhibition "I See Something You Don't See. Germany. Israel. Insights.", the VHS Bocholt-Rhede-Isselburg and the Culture and Archives Department would like to invite you to view the lives of Israelis and Germans who come into contact with one another from new perspectives. The exhibition opens on 22 September 2026.

The exhibition focuses on 35 prominent figures from the worlds of culture, politics, diplomacy, the media and civil society, all of whom have first-hand experience of both countries. Their personal answers to two simple questions reveal surprising, moving and sometimes contradictory perspectives on Germany, Israel and the links between the two societies.

The exhibition creates space for dialogue, a change of perspective and nuanced discussion. It was developed to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel and opened in May 2025 at the North Rhine-Westphalia State Parliament. It is sponsored by Sylvia Löhrmann, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia's Commissioner for Combating Anti-Semitism, Jewish Life and Remembrance Culture, and is currently on tour throughout North Rhine-Westphalia.

As part of the opening, VHS and Kultur invite you to a personal discussion with the artist, "Between Tel Aviv and Berlin", featuring the writer and activist Lizzie Doron. The Israeli author, who divides her time between Tel Aviv and Berlin, is one of the contributors to the book of the same name, from which the exhibition has emerged. In conversation with Dr Alexandra Nocke, a cultural studies scholar and co-editor of the book, Lizzie Doron will discuss her special relationship with Germany, her literary work and her political activism in Israel.

Registrations can be made via the website vhs.bocholt.de, at the office in the LernWerk and at the branches in Rhede and Isselburg.

About Lizzie Doron

The writer, peace and human rights activist Lizzie Doron was born in Tel Aviv in 1953. She grew up in a neighbourhood where many Yiddish-speaking Holocaust survivors had settled. At the age of 18, Doron moved to a kibbutz in the Golan Heights, but returned to study linguistics. Her first book, "Why Didn't You Come Before the War?" (1998), explores her mother's life story and experiences of persecution. In "Who the Fuck is Kafka" (2015) and "Sweet Occupation" (2017), she addresses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both books were met with rejection in Israel and have not been published there to this day.

For many years, Doron has been a champion of the democracy movement and of reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. In 2018, Doron was awarded the Peace Prize by the Geschwister Korn und Gerstenmann Foundation. In 2019, she was the Friedrich Dürrenmatt Visiting Professor of World Literature at the University of Bern. In 2021, her novel "What If?" was published. Most recently, she published "We Play Everyday Life" (2025), an emotional insight into the daily life of a divided society in the aftermath of 7 October. Lizzie Doron lives in Tel Aviv and Berlin.

About Alexandra Nocke

Dr Alexandra Nocke works as a cultural studies scholar, curator and author. In her exhibitions, publications and events, she explores issues of memory, identity, migration and the German-Israeli dialogue.

The event is a collaboration between the VHS Bocholt-Rhede-Isselburg, the Culture and Archives Department (including the Bocholt City Museum) and the Westmünsterland branch of the German-Israeli Society e.V., and is funded by the City of Bocholt, the VHS project "Diversity (helping to) shape diversity - Focus 2026: Strengthening educational pathways democratically, professionally, collaboratively and sustainably" and the Rudolf and Margot Ostermann Foundation.