I PRAY FOR PEACE

Anat Heifetz artwork, The Prayer for Peace, conveys a profound message amid the devastation of war. Through a pair of glasses, she tells a story of unimaginable hardship and suffering, embodying a powerful wish for hope and healing. The materials she chooses—burnt bamboo, metal, broken glass, and red thread symbolizing blood—imbue the piece with a haunting presence. Each element carries meaning: the burnt bamboo suggests resilience born from destruction; the metal embodies strength amid adversity; the broken glass reflects shattered lives; and the red thread weaves these elements together, both visually and emotionally. Through this work, she offers a solemn prayer for peace.

Anat Heifetz is an Israeli fashion designer with a long career in the international fashion industry. A Shenkar College graduate, she worked for more than 40 years for leading industry brands, before shifting her focus toward a more personal and meaningful practice. In 2015, she moved to Manila, Philippines, with an urge to create something that would combine her experience in fashion and textile and her love for art. There she encountered bamboo, not only as a versatile material but as a metaphor for resilience, grace, and continuity. This led her to explore a new form of expression by painting and carving fabric-inspired textures onto bamboo. The transition from textile to bamboo - and back was natural for Heifetz, and inspired by it, she launched in 2021 a new collection of clothing, jewelry and home decor under the KAWAYAN brand (Bamboo in Tagalog, the language spoken in the Philippines). Driven by the belief that the privilege of creation comes with a responsibility for sustainability, Kawayan collaborates with local artisans to ensure ethical production.

Heifetz's artistic influences range from Japanese minimalism, modernist art, and Bauhaus functionality. Above all, her work is deeply shaped by her personal experiences and her fascination with materials. Each piece begins with a spark—whether a material, a memory, or an emotion. Her creative process balances intuition and structure, often starting with bamboo or natural fibres that serve as canvases for carving, printing, or painting. She lets the materials guide the outcome, embracing accidents, imperfections, and handcraft as essential elements of her artistic language. The result is a collection of works that bear the marks of touch, time, and place.