BIO

Yaniv Schwartz (1989, Jerusalem) is a multidisciplinary artist, designer and wood worker. His family roots stretch over glass craftsmanship and painters from Poland, jewelry makers from Morocco/Portugal and the art of hosting from Jerusalem. This mix of backgrounds created a curiosity in the universal need of humans all around the world to come together and share a space that serves their needs. Many times he experienced spaces that did not meet these needs. The tension that is created by misplaced architecture and design motivates him to make a change. His main research question throughout his practice is: How to empower individuals to use space in a creative way? 

 

Yaniv studied Architectural design and Space at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. 

In his artistic practice he discovered that fine woodworking is a profound way to capture the beauty and complexity of architecture in one single object. Here he learned to combine craft with a conceptual framework. In 2018 Yaniv followed his heart's wish to study temple building in Kyoto. In Japan he learned from Takami Kawai, Suikoushya school for Japanese traditional carpentry. He practiced traditional Japanese joinery. The stories of the ceremonies that happen around woodworking and hand made wooden objects are a big inspiration for Yaniv. Yaniv’s creation process starts from the depth of observing trees, wood and the elements that shape them. He values shaping the wood based on the rhythm of his heart beat. Yaniv continued his training with master carpenter and artist, Gil Arad in Jerusalem. During his stay in the middle-east, his fascination for nomadic cultures was developed. Yaniv treats the wood with great care, since it’s scarce in the middle-east. 

 

In his professional practice Yaniv designed when he was 16 his first space. He continued to develop creational gatherings and was one of the founders of the Middle East burning man event, Midburn. His professional career continued in Amsterdam, where  he designed and built three boats. A small community sauna boat, a cultural ship Odessa and a 200 m2 houseboat in Amsterdam Noord. That houseboat he uses as his working office and as a cultural hub. This continued in an intensive hands on “Zelfbouw” water villa in Amsterdam. He did these projects together with his twin brother Daniel Schwartz. As twins they developed a unique symbiotic way of thinking, developing and working. 

In 2021 he started the Moraine together with Eva van der Zand. They are developing a hub for art, culture and sustainability. Currently, Yaniv is building a woodworking educational center on the location of the Moraine. A place for Slow Rhythm craftsmanship, next to the forest where he makes it possible for traditional woodworking crafts to stay alive.