The Good She.pherd Ortung 14, Schwabach Biennale, 2025
The Good She.pherd
Installed across two floors of the former synagogue in Schwabach, The Good She.pherd unfolds as a total environment.
At the heart of the exhibition is The Good She.pherd (Self-Portrait), a contemporary feminist reinterpretation of the ancient motif of the “Good Shepherd,” deeply embedded in Western culture, mythology, and the three monotheistic religions. Traditionally, this figure appears as a young man carrying a lamb on his shoulders - a symbol associated with divine redemption and ritual practice.
Ritov’s portrait merges with the figure of a young goat on her shoulders, declaring the simple yet radical message: “I am the Good Shepherdess.” By embodying the shepherdess herself, she challenges this patriarchal archetype, shifting the meaning from salvation through an external savior to the possibility of inner strength and redemption.
The Good She.pherd is envisioned as a goddess and guardian of borders, flocks, and dreams. She belongs to a pantheon of female deities presented in the upper floor of the Synagogue as icons, each carrying philosophical significance.
Gentle, meditative AI-generated sounds of bells and the voices of a women’s choir fill the synagogue, creating a sacred atmosphere. Visitors are invited to linger on cushions in a grassy area at the center of the space, surrounded by thistles. This recurring motif in Ritov’s work, symbolizes resilience, survival, and renewal as the thistle is able to endure long droughts before blooming into fragile beauty again.
Ritov consistently engages questions of landscape, territory, personal space, and borders. Drawing on ancient cultures, and early civilizations of the Near East, she reflects on the role of men as bringers of war, both in the past and in the present. Against this backdrop, The Good She.pherd becomes both an act of resistance and a proposition: a feminist and liberal reimagining of inherited traditions.
By interweaving mythology, history, religion, and personal identity, Ritov dissolves temporal and geographical boundaries, opening space for new images and possibilities. Viewers are invited to critically reflect on preconceived notions, to question faith and gender roles, and to imagine redemption not as an external promise but as a strength cultivated from within.
Installed across two floors of the former synagogue in Schwabach, The Good She.pherd unfolds as a total environment.
At the heart of the exhibition is The Good She.pherd (Self-Portrait), a contemporary feminist reinterpretation of the ancient motif of the “Good Shepherd,” deeply embedded in Western culture, mythology, and the three monotheistic religions. Traditionally, this figure appears as a young man carrying a lamb on his shoulders - a symbol associated with divine redemption and ritual practice.
Ritov’s portrait merges with the figure of a young goat on her shoulders, declaring the simple yet radical message: “I am the Good Shepherdess.” By embodying the shepherdess herself, she challenges this patriarchal archetype, shifting the meaning from salvation through an external savior to the possibility of inner strength and redemption.
The Good She.pherd is envisioned as a goddess and guardian of borders, flocks, and dreams. She belongs to a pantheon of female deities presented in the upper floor of the Synagogue as icons, each carrying philosophical significance.
Gentle, meditative AI-generated sounds of bells and the voices of a women’s choir fill the synagogue, creating a sacred atmosphere. Visitors are invited to linger on cushions in a grassy area at the center of the space, surrounded by thistles. This recurring motif in Ritov’s work, symbolizes resilience, survival, and renewal as the thistle is able to endure long droughts before blooming into fragile beauty again.
Ritov consistently engages questions of landscape, territory, personal space, and borders. Drawing on ancient cultures, and early civilizations of the Near East, she reflects on the role of men as bringers of war, both in the past and in the present. Against this backdrop, The Good She.pherd becomes both an act of resistance and a proposition: a feminist and liberal reimagining of inherited traditions.
By interweaving mythology, history, religion, and personal identity, Ritov dissolves temporal and geographical boundaries, opening space for new images and possibilities. Viewers are invited to critically reflect on preconceived notions, to question faith and gender roles, and to imagine redemption not as an external promise but as a strength cultivated from within.
