The PHOTO IS:RAEL international photography festival runs November 11-21, 2026, at Tel Aviv Cinematheque Square, 2 Sprinzak Street. Admission is free. More than 200 photographers from Israel and abroad will exhibit alongside dozens of exhibitions from the organization’s social programs.
This year’s theme is “Citizens”. The central exhibition, “Citizens: Memory. Power. Voice”, explores identity and belonging, power structures and the ability to be heard in public life. Participants include Pavel Wolberg, Ofir Berman, Tamar Nissim and Salman Kalash.
A distinctly local exhibition is Avishag Shaar-Yashuv’s “Before the Towers Rise”, which documents Tel Aviv’s Ribal district as it faces redevelopment. Her photographs focus on the buildings and the people who continue to work and create there. Alex Kaplan curates the exhibition.
International highlights include “Blood and Gold” by the Iranian artist working as PjShak, combining collages and imagery following the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests. Massimo Felona portrays residents of Naples’ Scampia neighborhood in “Citizens of a Collapsed Dream”. Laura Pannack’s “The Symmetries of the Island” brings together photographs of teenagers in Britain and Tasmania. These are selected examples from the exhibition program.
Participants in PHOTO VOICE programs will exhibit alongside professional photographers. The programs include at-risk young people, people with disabilities and communities undergoing rehabilitation, using photography and writing to tell their own stories.
The festival also includes guided tours and “The Right to Speak”, an exhibition of photography books curated by Alicia Shahaf. Eyal Landesman is the artistic director and Svetlana Reingold is the chief curator. Program and guided-tour details.
