A Walk Through the Real Ajami

Posted on May 7, 2010 by admin

Jaffa - the Jephet Street

A company cultural activity took us today through the district of Ajami, the Southern area of Jaffo made known recently by the movie that was a candidate to the Oscar prize for the Best Foreign Language Film.  Located one and the other side of the Jephet street, the area offers and interesting perspective of the history of the area, and the origins of its inhabitants.

sheikh Ali's house

We started the (guided) walk near one of the older houses of the area that belonged to an Arab sheik, descendant of the Egyptian settlers brought here by the sultan Muhamad Ali in the period between 1831 and 1840 that Jaffa was under Egyptian rule. About 12000 workers came here to build the area which was until then a dormant harbor, known to connect Jerusalem to the Mediterranean sea. When the Egyptians left the area most of the settlers stayed here, and many of the Palestinians today – Muslims and Christians – are their descendants.

windows

We spent much of the time walking the smaller streets, and admiring the mix of architectural elements – Arabic and European – from different period that gives charm and personality to the city. Many windows have arcades, and they are doubled by circular openings at the top of the rooms that enable the circulation of the air and cool the houses during hot summers.

house gate

Some of the house gates are pretty sophisticated, with sculptured columns and decorative elements.

door

Some other are simpler, and hide the interior of the houses, but they almost never are banal or lack some decorative element.

Terra Santa elementary school

The name of the area means in Arabic – ‘the Persian’ and refers to one of the followers of the prophet. Muslims almost exclusively ruled on the Holy Land between the end of the crusades until 1831, and only with the coming of the Egyptians Christians were allowed to return and practice their faith here. The only exception were the Catholics from the Franciscan order, who kept guard to the Holy places. Their institutions can be seen in Ajami as well – for example the Terra Santa elementary school and high school …

stepdoor of the Franciscan church

… and the beautiful Franciscan school.

1+1+1=1

Ajami is today a mixed area, inhabitted by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Some of the public schools are mixed, and graffitis like the one above witness that  some of the inhabitants still hold hope that the co-existence will last and turn eventually into real peace.

Garden of the Two

Yet, this is not an easy process. Many places remind a painful recent history, like the Garden of the Two, commemorating the event in 1992 when a terrorist from Gaza stabbed to death a Jewish girl, and then an Arab man who came to her rescue.

Roth's Mansion

One of the former residential areas located on a hill is the Ziona Tagger street (the painter never lived here, though) which was once, in the 19th century the place of many gatherings of the local high society, of social and entertainment events.

house of the Bolivian consul

Houses here are in very various states, some very well maintained, other badly requiring intervention (like the centenary building that once belong to the consul of Bolivia, in a period when many countries tried to set foot in the still Turkish-dominated area), or other simply abandoned.

the Coptic Church and Monastery

The relative liberal policy of the Egyptians and then of the Turks allowed for the settling in Ajami in the 19th century of inhabitants belonging to various Christian denominations, some of them specific to other areas of the Middle East. One example are the Coptic Christians from Egypt settled here by Muhamad Ali, their descendants built the interesting church and the neighboring monastery.

the Maronite church

Maronites came in a few years later, from Lebanon. They built their houses in the north of Ajami, adding the Lebanese style of building to the architectural melting pot of Ajami and Jaffa.

little Beirut - house in Lebanese style

Our tour ended at the outskirts of the Old City of Jaffo. We had made a walk of about two kilometers, parallel to the sea. Little of the beach of Ajami is left, the area is being transformed today as part of a project that will unite all the beaches and from Reading in the North of Tel Aviv to the city Bat Yam in the South into one riviera for the tourists and seal lovers to enjoy.The renewed harbor of Jaffa, and the Andromeda building project are already there, at the point where the history and the present, traditional and modern architecture and ways of life meet.

Jaffa harbor and beach of Ajami

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The Maltese Week / 5 – On the Streets of Valletta

Posted on May 6, 2010 by admin

city walls

The first thing that strikes the visitor after walking away from the central bus station towards the city are the walls. Valletta is located on a rocky peninsula and is protected by maybe the most impressive fortified walls that I have ever seen. Built by the Knights of St. John after the Great Siege by the Turks in 1565, the city actually never fell to a foreign invader in war. The only conqueror of the island was Napoleon, but the knights had fled to Russia abandoning the city, by the time the future emperor entered here.

Valletta Map

The city is the principal tourist attraction on the island and a mandatory stop for any trip here. It succeeds to be crowded it any season, and for us, who visited out of season it was almost the sole crowded place we have encountered during the vacation.

city gate

The land access to the city is through the city gate, which looks like a triumphal arch whose days of glory are well passed. It is actually pretty new, built in the 1970s, but not that well maintained. As in other places on the island we saw here as well signs about something new to be build soon instead – it looks like Malta is a place where the European money comes slowly, or when it comes it is not immediately used for the targeted purposes.

the bombed theatre

Right after the gate the visitor can see the ruins of the old and imposing building that stood here until the second world war and was destroyed in the savage bombing that the German aviation subjected the city to in 1942. Malta was the only country who had the entire population decorated by the British king during the war for the steadiness and will to resist the enemy under fire.

Auberge de Castille

Valletta is a beautiful city, and it’s beauty comes from the combination of refined architecture mixing palaces, churches, and sloppy streets and the spectacular setting of the peninsula surrounded by the blue of the the sea. Many of the beautiful places in the city come directly from history – for example the Auberges (Inns) which look to the contemporary eyes as real palaces where the knights were hosting the guests from various places in Europe. The buildings perform various functions nowadays, among other Auberge de Castille is one of the most imposing, hosting the office of the Maltese Prime Minister.

view from the Upper Barrakka Gardens

One place to watch the landscape of the city are the Upper Barrakka Gardens. Across the bay one can see the Three Cities, and down the slopes the bastions, wharfs, and especially the esplanades of the lower gardens, with the canons that once defended the city.

cafe Gordina

All streets in Malta streets have two names – one in Maltese and the other in English. For example the principal street in Valletta is Triq Ir-Repubblika, or the Road of the Republic, which crosses the peninsula and the city from South to North, and divides the city into a West side and a East side, as in Manhattan, all proportions kept, of course. The street looks very much like a tourist spot as in many other places in the world, but some special buildings remind you that you are in a special place. For example Cafe Gordina has a definite European flavor, with a superb chocolates and cakes assortment.

the Manoel Theatre

Just down the street from Cafe Gordina you will find the almost only open plaza area in the city. The Manoel Theatre – the most famous theater and opera place on the island stands across the road from the Grand Master’s Palace and State Building, where the parliament and the president of the Republic have their residences.

flags and balconies

Visitors to Valletta and to Malta in general will find out soon after visiting the first city or village that balconies are kind of the local passion, the preferred architectural ornament and a reflection of the social status of the owner of the apartment or of the house.

saints behind the corner

Valletta is also a city of churches, and there are many from the imposing St. John’s Co-Cathedral which will be the subject of a dedicated episode to small churches on the side streets. The religious fervor of the inhabitants is reflected not only in the multitude of churches however, religious art seems to have freely escaped from the perimeter of the walls of the churches in the streets of the city. It looks like at every street corner at least one saint carved in stone or painted on the walls is extending his blessing to the travelers.

San Francisco on the Mediterranean

The most beautiful places in the city demand however some efforts to explore and walk. If you step aside from the main road you find yourself soon on quite streets on slopes, which seem all to descend to the sea, whatever direction you take. The comparison with San Francisco immediately comes to mind, but the tram is missing. One just needs to remember that anything that goes down will inevitably go up as well, as the only point to exit the city is the entrance gate. The slopes back can really be brutal, at the end of a day of walking the city.

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The Maltese Week / 4 – Roads and Buses

Posted on May 6, 2010 by admin

deserted train station in Medina

Somebody should write once a history of the railroads in the British Empire. All were ambitious projects, designed as a replica of the network that was built as the infrastructure of the industrial revolution in the British islands. The stations were built as a carbon copy of the old country stations, the locomotives and wagons were destined to run on four continents, all driven by the coal extracted in the pits of Wales and Scotland. Yet reality was stronger than the imperial designs, and as in Palestine, or even worse, the train in Malta never became an economic reality. Due to short distances within the island and long delivery distances for equipment, parts, and especially for coal the train service was interrupted in Malta by 1935. It is only the old, abandoned trains stations like the one in the city of Medina that stay witness of the history of railroad transport in the heart of the Mediterranean. Demolitions are not a Maltese skill, did I say it already?

on the roads

So the tourists and the locals are left with the roads network. They are driving on the correct side of the road, so my only day of car rental was the usual challenge which I overcame heroically. No real highways on the island, and the state of the road was fair, some place between Israel and Romania. Road signs are poor, no signs with road numbers, you never know when you exit a village or city and enter the next one, but distances are small, so you cannot really get lost.

central bus station in Valletta

The principal mean of transportation used by locals and tourists as well are the buses. They are quite inexpensive, no ticket exceeds too much one Euro, most are less. The central bus station in Valletta connects to any point on the main island, and being situated just out of the city gates is the starting point for exploring the city.

the yellow bus

Much can be written about the buses in Malta. The common thing is that they are all yellow – the yellow of the cabs in NYC or Bucharest. Under the paint you can find any model the British bus industry produces in the last half of century, from smoky and noisy Leyland buses similar to the ones once manufactured in Israel and exported to Romania among other in the 60s, to the modern air-conditioned ones. You buy tickets from the driver and better have change with you, or not too big notes fit to the value of the tickets.

in the bus - the full experience

Do not be in a hurry and do not rely to get to the minute to your destination. Buses, as life in general go at slow pace in Malta. Sometimes a 20 kilometers trip can take one hour, in some cases the bus has problems with changing gears, or climbing hills, and the timetable on the station panels is just for orientation, provided that you understand it. All these happened to us, but eventually we always made it at the destination, and the good-humored indifference of the drivers did not allow us to get too angry. Bus traveling is certainly one part of the Malta experience not to be missed.

waiting on the dock of the bay

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Film: L’ete meurtrier (Isabelle Adjani – 1983)

Posted on May 4, 2010 by admin

source www.imdb.com

The source of this film is a book of Sebastien Japrisot – a thriller author and script-writer who also directed a a few films by himself. After having seen the film directed by Jean Becker in 1983 I start to wonder whether it would not have been better in this case if Japrisot brought to screen his own novel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmlD08WlO2U

(video source etik42)

The whole film turns around Isabelle Adjani, By the time she made L’ete meurtrier Adjani was already at her 20th film or such and Truffault’s L’Histoire d’Adele H., or Polanski’s Le locataire were already behind her. Yet, she has in this film the freshness of a debutante and a sex-appeal that equals few films I have seen (Tornatore’s Malena with Monica Belucci comes to my mind). Adjani plays here the role of the victim and of the avenger, her beauty, changes of mood, suffering and mistakes make and destroy everything in the story and in the film itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z-VEavOs8I

(video source etik42)

Seen through the perspective of almost three decades the story of the young girl seeking revenge for the rape of her mother may seem conventional and melodramatic. It is however very much into the style and approach not only of the classic French cinema but also of the literature – the characters seem to descend to us from the world of an Emile Zola, with their predestination of giving up to passion and with the tendency of making fatal, destinies breaking mistakes for the seek of love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii-vtINLE7Y

(video source etik42)

If there is anything or anybody to blame for this film not really aging well despite Adjani’s fabulous performance (seconded by Alan Souchon, an actor who seems to have all but disappeared after having made this film, and I have a hard time understanding why) I think it’s the direction and the director. Similar material has created masterpieces if I am to think about films like La mariee etait en noir – Jean Becker seems to have lacked the daring of taking a ‘classical’ story and using lesser conventional cinematographic means in order to make the story more credible. And yet, the film is worth seeing, even just for the pleasure of seeing Isabelle Adjani at her best.

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Avigdor Arikha (1929 – 2010)

Posted on May 3, 2010 by admin

Shouting - www.jewishrenaissance.org.uk

A murit pictorul Avigdor Arikha. Nascut in Bucovina (unele surse spun Radauti, altele Cernauti), avea 12 ani cand a fost deportat impreuna cu familia sa in Transnistria. Tatal sau a murit in ghetto, el a supravietuit deoarece desenele sale descriind ororile deportarii au fost vazute de reprezentantii Crucii Rosii, care l-au scos de acolo si l-au adus in Palestina.

din expozitia de la Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, 2008 - http://ecodiario.eleconomista.e

Expozitia lui Arikha pe care am vazut-o la British Museum acum cativa ani http://www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/invt/cmc26470 se deschidea cu doua dintre aceste desene. Arikha donase o suta de lucrari muzeului londonez, care a facut o exceptie, deoarece de obicei nu organizeaza expozitii de arta plastica ale creatorilor cntemporani. Arikha a trait in Israel pana prin 1954, cand a plecat la studii la Paris. Creatia sa se imparte in doua perioade distincte – cea abstracta pana prin mijlocul anilor 60 si cea figurativa dupa aceea – in special gravuri si portrete. A fost si istoric de arta si curator, printre altele la Louvre si la Muzeul Israel.

(video source efe)

Ultima sa mare expozitie retrospectiva a fost organizata la muzeul Thyssen-Bornemisza din Madrid, in 2008.

Fie-i memoria binecuvantata.

Portretul Reginei Mame - http://www.nationalgalleries.org

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The Maltese Week /3 – History and Religion

Posted on April 28, 2010 by admin

Hagar Qim

The future episodes will talk a lot about history and about religion, and in many cases about both. The minuscule island at the crossroads of the Mediterranean offers on a very limited surface one of the richer collections of historical places from different epochs, as well as a deep religious spirit which carved history and the character of its people.

History in Malta starts with the Neolithic period when the first cultures set ashore the island and and started to build settlements, temples, and other structures whose scope and functions are no longer clear today. Several monuments similar to the Stonehenge megaliths in the South of England haven recovered and wonderfully preserved,  among them the ones at Mnajdra, Hagar Qim, and Ggantija on the island of Gozo which we have visited. A special chapter will be dedicated to these places.

'cavalerii de la Malta'

Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans successively conquered and ruled over Malta in the Ancient Era. Malta is related to the legends that surround the early Christianity, here is the place where St. Paul was shipwrecked in the year 60AD, and actually the place where we stayed was close to St.Paul’s Bay. Vandals and then Muslims ocupied the island in the Middle Ages, and the Arabic influence is being felt until today in the language which is of Semitic origin sharing more than 60% of the words with Arabic, and in the names of places like Medina, Ramla, or Rabat. Normands and Arabs fought for the domination of the islands for the first three centuries of the second millennium, with the Christian rule prevailing in 1248 and leading to the total expulsion of the Muslims in a prelude of the reconquista. However, part of the population chose to stay and convert to Christianity, one of the results being the Maltese language preserved, spoken and alive until today.  What was different from what happened two and a half centuries later in the Iberia peninsula was that Jews were allowed to stay and exercise not only their religion but also their commerce, among other with cotton which has been introduced during the Arab era.

Valletta city walls

The order of St. John – the Maltese cavaliers were donated the island by king Charles V of Spain and Roman Holy Emperor in 1523, after their expulsion from Rhodes by the Turks. Established in the 12th century in Jerusalem, the St. John order was the most important monastic order of the Catholicism during the Middle Ages and later aside the Templars. Their organization and ideology was very different however, they were focusing on hospitality and commerce and were warriors only when the needs of Christianity demanded. One of the marking moments of their history was the siege of Malta in 1565, which eventually led to the defeat of the Turks and a stop to their expansion in the Mediterranean. Following that moment the St. John cavaliers controlled Malta for more than two centuries, leaving their mark on the history and character of the people, and building as a fortress the principal city of Malta – Valletta. The cavaliers were exiled from the island by Napoleon at the end of the 18th century to … Russia, never to return here, but the deep Catholic faith remained impregnated in the geography and culture of Malta.

St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta

Malta is indeed the most fervent Catholic country that I have ever visited. 97% of its inhabitants declare themselves as Catholics. Magnificent churches can be found almost in every place, and they are decorated with fastidious religious art. Sculptures and religious decorations can be found not only in churches, but also on the streets, in Valletta for example almost every street corner is decorated with statues of saints.

street corner in Valletta

It would be mistaken to believe that this deep belief is a thing of the past. Many of the churches are quite recent, and their building was financed only by contributions and work from the local people. I have for example visited a magnificent dome in Xewkija (do not ask me how to read this!) on the island of Gozo – they say it’s the third or fourth in Europe (similar claims I heard about another church in Mosta, what is for sure both are HUGE). Well, the one in Xewkija is claimed to have been build solely with work and donations of the local people of the village of about 4000 inhabitants.

the Dome in Xewkija, Gozo

For sure, the history of Malta continued in the 19th and much of the 20th century as a British colony. During World War II Malta suffered a second siege under the German Luftwaffe attacks, but the island resisted heroically and the forces of Rommel never set foot in Malta. Independent since 1964, Malta turned left and became a turning point in the non-aligned nations movement in the first two decades of independence. This trend slowly changed by the end of the 20th century, and in 2004 Malta joined the European Union. Today tourists can visit the House of State which are both a museum and the symbol of governance of the island since the Grand Masters of the St. John’s order until the democratically elected presidents of Republic of Malta of today.

House of State

There is one episode of history that happened in Malta but I did not hear it mentioned during my stay there. On December 2 and 3, 1989 president Bush (father) and General Secretary Gorbachev met in Malta for a summit. This event happened less than one month after the fall of the wall of Berlin. Not everything is known yet about the details of that meeting, but it is widely considered the moment in time when the Russian leader conceded the defeat of the Soviets in the cold war and the acceptance of the end the Communist rule in Eastern Europe. It may be very well that the fate of Romania and of the Communist hard-line dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was also settled at that meeting. The circle of history represented by the division of Europe open in Yalta in 1943 was closed in Malta in 1989. It is in that extreme point of Europe that the history of the united old continent began.

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Documentary: Das Ende des Politburos

Posted on April 26, 2010 by admin

This will certainly not be the last and ultimate documentary made about the events that precluded and picked that night of November in 1989 when the infamous Wall of Berlin fell, signaling that the process of ending the Communist rule in Europe had reached the point of no return. It was screened by the European culture channel ARTE a few months ago at the anniversary of two decades from the events. The timing was good and the main chance and value of the film is that it caught alive many of the protagonists of the drama that took place in 1989 and received direct testimonies from some of the heads of the former regime like Egon Krenz, Hans Modrow, Gunther Schabowski. No doubt that future documentaries will use the footage and especially the interviews.

Erich Honeker - source: www.knowledgerush.com

Although the end of the drama is well known, it is still amazing to get back in time in the last year of the German Democratic Republic ruled by Communists, to see and hear about a regime unable to cope with the reality, unwilling to talk and hear with its own people, caught in its own web of lies and propaganda, paralyzed and incapable to act. The focus of the film is on the individuals and the state and party apparatus that was leading the DDR. While some of the politicians at the top had at least a partial understanding of the problems of the country, there never was a real move towards reform and the change came too late and was thought as being too small in order to be able to save the system.

Egon Krenz - source: http://archiv.ddr-im-www.de

Some of the external aspects of the situation are less dealt in the film. While the relationship with the Soviet Union and the role of Mikhail Gorbachev is widely described, little is being said about the role played by Ronald Reagan’s United States or Kohl’s West Germany. The popular movement that started in the summer with the massive flux of refugees crossing the borders open in Hungary increased in intensity with the workers movements that shadowed the operatic festivities put together by Honecker at the 40th anniversary of the DDR, and culminated with the night of the fall of the wall and opening of free circulation in Berlin.

Checkpoint Charlie the night the wall fell - source: Bundesarchiv

The documentary is well made, but relies too much on the interviews, and film footage leaving an impression of monotony. These were great events in the history of Germany and Europe, and more emotion would not have been out of place. The rare moments that break the routine are the ones when the human dimension of the principal players of the drama is caught on screen, The policeman who arrested Honecker tells the story of the omnipotent leader of yesterday reduced to his feeble human dimension. And then the final image on which the credits are run showing Egon Krenz, the last leader of the party and of the politburo standing in the plaza in the center of East Berlin while bulldozers tear down the monstrous building of the Palace of the Republic, the ugly architectural symbol of the deceased East Germany.

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Satirical Cabaret: Anxiety Struck at Habima

Posted on April 25, 2010 by admin

We used the last two punched holes in the subscription card for the Habima theater season to see the satirical cabaret show ‘Nifgaei Harada’ which was translated in the English page of the program to ‘Anxiety Struck’. Well, ‘Harada’ is a little more than just anxiety, it is closer to terror or shock which probably describes better the current mood and state of mind of the Israeli society. The authors of the texts in the show are B. Michael and Ephraim Sidon, and the director is Moti Kirschenbaum – all three were involved three and a half decades ago in the making of ‘Nikui Rosh’ (Head Cleaning, Brain-washing) – a cult satirical program which started a few years before Saturday Night Life and had shaken all the holy cows broke all established taboos of the Israeli society at a time of moral and political crisis similar to the one that faces today the Israeli society, establishing in the process the rules of freedom of expression that became standard – at least until now – in the Israeli culture and media.

How is ‘Anxiety Struck’ different from the many satirical programs we can see each week on the TV screens? The most important aspect is in my opinion the fact that there is no search or intention of neutrality. Free (or almost free) from the constraints of rating and the ‘objectivity’ rules of the broadcasting laws the authors of the texts do not perform any balancing act, they come from a clear and enrolled position, and what they perform on stage is politics at least at the same extent that it is art. By doing this they play as all satirical authors have always done with the borders of the ‘allowed’ in what concerns the political consensus (which they often cross) and with the limits of the good taste (which they seldom cross). Their saying is crisp, engaged, and leaves no doubt on what side they are and what situations they believe need to be fixed. If there are different opinions concerning the political aspects dealt with in the show one needs to go to a different show in a different hall to hear.

What about the artistic experience? Here my feelings are mixed. All the actors – Yael Leventhal, Dov Navon, Alon Neuman, Talli Oren, Tomer Sharon – are very good, they feel good in this genre and love doing it. The hall at Tzafta in Tel Aviv is however very challenging for anybody who sits beyond the very first rows, and we were not among the lucky ones last night. The sets are very uninspired, and so is the music, which is quite a surprise taking onto account that the author of the music score is Keren Peles, whose other works I have seen until now were always good and interesting. This I hope is just an unhappy event in the career of one of the best stage composers we have in Israel.

Satire in general is something the Israeli society needs badly in this moment. With the writings of Kishon and Levin in the back wind and with authors like Sidon and Michael, and even some of the text authors who write for TV shows there is hope that the tradition continues.  Can satire change the world, or help the world to change? We can hope so, says Moti Kirschenbaum in an interview in the show program, but then, we go to sleep and wake up in the morning, and realize that we are no more than the court clowns. Yes, but then, are there not the clown acts that are in many cases in history remembered as best representing their times?

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Documentary: The Quest for the Missing Piece (Oded Lotan – 2007)

Posted on April 24, 2010 by admin

Oded Lotan, an Israeli-born film-maker living in Germany dares to cope in this documentary film with one of the ‘holy cows’ concepts of the Jewish tradition – the circumcision. Interestingly, I did not notice or hear about this film having been screened in Israel until it was broadcast by the European culture TV channel ARTE, although most of it is filmed here.

Lotan starts by sharing his personal experience, which is very much about living abroad and being different, this being the starting point on a journey to seek the historic origins of the custom, as well as his own family history. His investigations go into two directions – one is a historical and demographic research which leads him to being aware that the custom is rather widely practiced in different parts of the globe because of religious or medical reasons.  More interesting are however the investigations he makes in Israel, questioning family, rabbis and mohels (the specialists who perform circumcision), people who oppose the tradition and chose not to follow it for their sons in a society where the ‘brith’ is norm, and people who approach it in an almost mystical manner.

There is no earth-shaking revelation for somebody who knows well the Israeli society and Jewish customs, yet the film is well made and the debate interesting and pleasant to watch because of the low-tone and humor of the commenter-hero-film-maker. The author is also openly gay, and his questioning of the circumcision adds taboo-breaking to taboo-breaking – without a tolerant and smooth approach the debate could have easily slid into controversy. The organization of the film in several short episodes ended by stop-frames transformed into graphics adds consistency and breaks the potential tension of the debate that could become too tense if taken too seriously. The interesting twist at the end of the film has the author aligning with the tradition, after questioning it all over the film. A final irony, taken in the same good spirit this whole documentary is being made.

I have found the film on YouTube, but it’s unfortunately only the German version. Here is the first episode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1cw4GIlkMU

(video source ElectricFlattery)

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‘Cantecul pietrei’ – expozitie memoriala Tuvia Juster la Ein Hod

Posted on April 24, 2010 by admin

galeria centrala din Ein Hod

Nu am avut sansa sa-l cunosc pe Tuvia Juster, asa incat expozitia deschisa astazi la galeria centrala din satul artistilor de la Ein Hod, locul in care a trait si creat Juster in ultimele decenii ale vietii sale a fost prima mea intalnire cu lucrarile sculptorului plecat dintre noi cu cinci ani in urma. Tuvia Juster (1931 – 2005) s-a nascut la Braila si a copilarit in Bucuresti si-a facut studiile la Institutul de Arte Plastice din capitala Romaniei, si a emigrat in Israel in 1959. Aici s-a consacrat ca artist si aici a devenit unul dintre cei mai cunoscuti sculptori ai Israelului. A ramas atasat insa si de tara sa de origine, pe care a revizitat-o de multe ori si unde in 2004 a aparut volumul al carui titlu da si numele actualei expozitii si care strange interviuri, note biografice si articole publicate de Juster in presa israeliana de limba romana.

Evenimentul a fost precedat de o comemorare la cimitir la care nu am ajuns sa particip. Vernisajul expozitiei s-a bucurat de participarea unui public destul de numeros, iar ceremonia de deschidere prezentata cu pricepere si caldura de Vlad Solomon a fost onorata de luarile de cuvant ale atasatului cultural al ambasadei Romaniei in Israel, de artisti, critici, prieteni si membrii ai familiei. Cele spuse s-au referit si la artist dar mai ales la Omul Tuvia Juster, o personalitate care avea se pare darul de a nu lasa indiferenti pe cei din jur, plecarea lui timpurie lasand un gol evident in viata celor care l-au cunoscut.

Expozitia insasi risca sa dezamageasca, si cei pentru care – ca mine – intalnesc pentru prima data cu aceasta ocazie lucrarile lui Juster risca sa primeasca o imagine ingusta a operei acestuia. In primul rand spatiul de expunere este mic, o singura sala si cea mai minuscula la capatul galeriei centrale din Ein Hod unde cele aproximativ 12 lucrari chiar daca sunt de dimensiuni nu prea mari nu au suficient spatu de respiratie si distantare pentru a permite o contemplare eficienta. O decizie ciudata care ma intreb daca este intentionata plaseaza o parte dintre lucrari pe socluri joase sau chiar la nivelul solului si nu pe socluri, obligand la o contemplare de sus in jos, ca spre niste plante ciudate rasarite din cimentul pardoselii. Oare de ce? Lipseste si materialul scris despre expozitia actuala, o lista a lucrarilor macar ar fi fost utila.

Un catalog al unei expozitii precedente pe care l-am cumparat la intrare arata imediat ca Juster a fost un sculptor mult mai multilateral, si cu o gama de expresie mult mai vasta decat reiese din lucrarile aflate in aceasta expozitie.  Din diversele medii in care a lucrat Juster aceasta expozitie se concentreaza pe lucrarile in piatra (Juster a lucrat si in lemn, si in metal printre altele), iar dimensiunile lucrarilor au fost alese pentru a se potrivi cu spatiul disponibil. Cu toate acestea si din ceea ce este expus am putut intelege ca Juster era un artist care stapanea bine tehnicile de insufletire a materialului in care lucra, care asimilase la perfectie lectiile marilor artisti ai secolului 20 si in special ale lui Brancusi si Moore, de la care pare sa plece in multe dintre lucrarile expuse, adaugand insa de fiecare data o nuanta sau un comentariu personal. Greu de dedus din putinele exponate daca exista un stil Juster care ar face ca sculpturile sale sa poata fi recunoscute imediat intr-o expozitie sau intr-un muzeu, dar este evidenta stapanirea mijloacelor de expresie si dialogul cu sculptura moderna a timpului sau.

Pe peretii expozitiei sunt expuse in traducere in ebraica si engleza citate din cartea lui Juster aparuta in original in romaneste. Doua dintre ele se refera la relatia intre artist pe de o parte, divinitate si traditie de cealalta parte, relatie care pare sa fi fost esentiala in modul de a gandi si de a crea al lui Tuvia Juster. El se exprima de altfel in cuvinte cu o indemanare de profesionist al cuvantului si nu numai al daltei. Am cautat si nu prea am gasit intre exponate ilustratii in materia sculptata care sa corespunda acestor cuvinte. Este poate inca un argument ca aceasta expozitie, initiativa salutara de comemorare la cinci ani de la trecerea in nefiinta a artistului, organizata in locul in care a trait si creat nu este suficienta pentru o cunoastere completa si profunda a creatiei sale. Este de sperat ca retrospectiva majora a operei sale va veni in viitor.

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