“Sacred Cycles” is an immersive, audio-visual exploration of the similarities of Islam, Christianity and Judaism as seen in art, culture and music on display Oct. 1-3 at the free Atlanta Art Fair at Pullman Yards.
Built on the rhythm of the three religions, viewers of “Sacred Cycles” will witness the prayer, liturgy, iconography, and sounds of Jerusalem in a large-scale format made from 1,000 of Cohen’s photographs.
Amit Hai Cohen, a Jewish-Moroccan artist from Israel, has created an eight-minute video loop projected onto the ceiling and accompanied by the sounds of 60 imams, priests and cantors singing in their native tongue. The audio features Greek, Arabic, Hebrew and Armenian.
The traveling exhibit is based on Cohen’s work created with David Polonsky in 2023 and permanently showcased at the Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem. “Sacred Cycles” is its first presentation outside Jerusalem and its first in the United States. The exhibit will be on display in New Orleans in early 2027.
“We wanted to have one space [where] you really can experience the religion. You can experience not only your religion, but to find yourself in other religions,” Cohen said in a video. “The same sentiment you find in Judaism you can find in Christianity and Islam.”
The exhibit is being presented by Jewish cultural organizations The Spring and Bamah, with support from Canvas. Bamah CEO Flo Low and The Spring Executive Director Samara Minkin spoke with Rough Draft at Pullman Yards as the final touches were being put on “Sacred Cycles.”
Minkin said she expects a cross-section of Atlanta art lovers to experience the exhibit. The Atlanta Art Fair attracts a crowd diverse in age, race and geography, she said.
“The Spring is bringing Jewish culture into civic and cultural spaces in Atlanta, and we look forward to very soon welcoming all of Atlanta into Jewish spaces,” Minkin said.
On Friday evening, Bamah is bringing 100 students and professors from the Atlanta University Center to see the exhibit and discuss expanding cultural empathy and understanding.
“Bamah’s focus is to ensure that local students have access as well to high-quality arts experiences,” Bamah CEO Flo Low said.
“Sacred Cycles” has landed in Atlanta during the Jewish High Holy Days that started with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and includes the holidays of Yom Kippur (days of awe), Sukkot (a harvest holiday) and Simchat Torah (the completion of the annual cycle of reading the Torah scroll).
Low said the exhibit fills her with the sounds, images and spirituality of Jerusalem – a city she considers her home.
“We are bringing Jerusalem to Atlanta,” Low said. “There is no other city like it on Earth, and I can’t be there right now. But I’m going to spend the next three days there through this installation.”
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