Night City Lights, Haifa
Oil on linen, 28 cm x 19 cm (11 in x 7 in) , 2021
Halak selected his work Night Lights, Haifa because it is a contemporary natural scene in Haifa, the city where the artist Maroun lived and featured in some of his works. Haifa was not just a place for Maroun Tomb—it was a source of visual and emotional inspiration, like for Halak, as is evident in every detail of this painting.
Night City Lights, Haifa reveals a clear contrast between the modern urban character of Haifa; with its tall buildings and shimmering artificial lights, and the natural and historical backdrop that has long been tied to the city’s original identity. In the distance, the dome of the Bahá’í Temple and its famous gardens are visible, flanked by contemporary towers and buildings that reflect the city’s development and transformation.
The painting captures this tension between modernity and nostalgia, between a past rich in memories and deep-rooted culture, and a present that imposes new landmarks. This work is not merely a beautiful nighttime scene, but a visual documentation of today’s reality which carries within it a critical and human dimension about the loss of the city’s original character. It invites us to reflect on the complex relationship between art, the city and memory.
Michael Halak was born in Fassuta village and currently lives and works in Haifa. During university, Halak won a scholarship to attend the Florence Academy of Art, Italy, where he refined his realist style. He completed his MFA at Haifa University.
Halak’s works tread between hyperrealism and conceptualism. His works depict landscapes and emotion: impermanence, hybridity, entrapment, or categorization. Halak manipulates perception to convey his lived experience– a life in transition in a place that is not really his.
Halak has exhibited across the Middle East, Europe, and the United States and his work can be found globally and locally in public and private collections. He has been honored by the Ministry of Culture and Sports and been awarded the Rappaport Prize.