In the world of Israeli cultural institutions, the Mane-Katz Museum in Haifa is often overlooked. A cozy collection of paintings and sculptures tucked behind the Haifa Zoo in this northern hilly Israeli city, the Mane-Katz Museum was founded by Ukraine-born artist Emmanuel Mane-Katz, who made a name for himself with his bright and colorful paintings of the Jewish ghettos of Eastern Europe.

As the United States and Europe continue to grapple with the #MeToo movement and the resounding percussion of an awakened women’s movement, at the Mane-Katz Museum, feminism and women’s bodies are being explored in a sculpture exhibit.

The exhibit titled “Chana Orloff: Feminist Sculpture in Israel” opened at the museum in June 2017 and will be on display through March. The collection, anchored by works from Chana Orloff — the Ukrainian-born, Paris-trained art deco figurative artist and sculptor was one of the very first to explore how the female body is treated collectively and in the public space — also includes subversive and complex pieces from Noa Arad-Yairi, Sharon Balaban, Ronit Baranga, Meira Grossinger, Meirav Heiman, Amira Zayan, Tova Lotan, Dalia Meiri, Orly Montag, Esther Naor, Tali Navon, Vered Sivan, Vera Korman, Hava Raucher and Ira Reichwerger.

“This exhibition was planned prior to the #MeToo campaign, but it does fit the elaborate discussion regarding women's sexuality and social status,” Svetlana Reingold, the exhibit’s curator, told Al-Monitor. “Chana Orloff lived and worked in a period when women had very specific roles to fulfill, and she resisted these restrictions and established herself as a successful artist in a masculine environment. In those days, sculpture was defined as a male domain and Orloff challenged this conception.”