The art director of a family-friendly balloon art experience that traveled from Tel Aviv to Manhattan’s Upper East Side for the summer posted violent anti-Palestinian rhetoric on social media last year, Hyperallergic found. Israeli artist Kobi Kalimian, the face of the Balloon Story exhibition currently on view at the Park Avenue Armory, called for the Gaza Strip to be “pounded” and “conquered” in a Facebook post from May 2023.
“I prefer a thousand crying Arab mothers to one Jewish mother because these are my people,” Kalimian wrote in Hebrew in response to a commenter in the once-public Facebook post, referring to Arabs as “the sons of death,” an expression for people who deserve to die.
The comments were made on May 11, 2023, after an Israeli civilian was killed during renewed conflict between the Israeli military and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militants following the death of the latter’s spokesman, Khader Adnan, in prison after an 87-day hunger strike. Members of the PIJ directed hundreds of rockets toward Israel for about a week after Adnan’s death, killing one Israeli civilian and injuring between 30 and 40. Israel retaliated on May 9 with Operation Shield and Arrow, killing over 30 Palestinian civilians, injuring over 100, and displacing over 1,000 in Gaza before the two parties agreed to a ceasefire on May 13.
Kalimian has not responded to Hyperallergic’s request for comment and has since made his Facebook account private.
“We had absolutely no knowledge of the comments made by Kobi Kalimian on his social media accounts and completely deplore them,” a spokesperson for the Park Avenue Armory said in a statement to Hyperallergic. “Balloon Story is a third-party rental and is not a part of Park Avenue Armory’s artistic programming.”
The initial iteration of Balloon Story took place last summer at Hangar 11, a privately owned concert and event venue in Tel Aviv. The space’s vice president, Yonatan Eizik, is listed as an exhibition producer as well.
In an interview this month, Eizik told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Balloon Story NYC will “bring some much-needed revenue into Israel” in the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 attack, which he said has diminished opportunities for Israeli artists and small business owners. He and Kalimian recruited 30 balloon artists from Israel and others from Spain, Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands, the United States, and elsewhere to coordinate the massive, multi-room exhibition at the Park Avenue Armory.
Questions remain about the connections between Hangar 11’s Tel Aviv activities and the New York show. An August 5 post in a private Facebook group for Long Island parents shares a message attributed to Eizik that says Balloon Story is “a way for Hangar 11 to bring revenue into Israel,” noting that the Tel Aviv venue has “become a space of refuge for [Israeli] soldiers.” Within days of Hamas’s attack, Hangar 11 became a donations hub to provide supplies for soldiers. In early March, the venue hosted a mass wedding for 10 soldiers who had been called into Gaza after October 7.
Hyperallergic was unable to independently verify whether proceeds from Balloon Story NYC would benefit Hangar 11. Autumn Communications, the marketing firm representing the exhibition, noted that some 700,000 popped latex balloons will be sent to Colombia to be recycled into chew toys for dogs after the show closes; however, it did not respond to Hyperallergic‘s questions about the destination of the proceeds.
Eizik and other Hangar 11 leaders did not reply to a request for comment.
In New York, standard admission tickets for adults wanting to see Balloon Story are priced at nearly $41, while those for children cost $36. Powered by the entertainment and experiences platform Fever, the Balloon Story ticketing website makes no mention of Hangar 11, Israel, or where any of the exhibition profits will go.