Nostalgia Sunday – Stitching in the Seventies

February 7, 2010 - 7:05 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Art, design, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture 

Israelis are a crafty lot – and not in the way you think I mean. Israelis – particularly women – have always liked their handicrafts. These days, every neighborhood boasts a hobby store. Decoupage seems to be the most popular craft of the moment, putting pretty flowered napkins at a premium and shooting gilt paint prices through the roof.

But in every generation there will be needlepoint. Back in the Seventies, gobelin or tapestry needlework, was all the rage. There was far less television to watch and so an afternoon coffee could be quietly — or noisily — passed with good women friends, all of whom came equipped with a plastic bag filled with thick needles, French embroidery thread and canvas printed with the most horrifically sentimental romantic prints, also imported from France.

During our summer visits to see family, my Israeli mother refused to fall prey to the fad though she did help me as I (inspired by those books about young American frontier girls who walked 5 miles to school each day and then embroidered samplers by candlelight) made my own childhood attempts at needlework. We would sit around her cousin’s Rivka’s living room as Doda Dvora, Doda Tzila and cousin Rivkale all stitched away.

Doda Tzila — who was by far the most prolific — bestowed upon our family a version of the lady seen above left, in a heavy gold frame. I absolutely loved it and was quite disappointed to discover that it was a very common and popular print that hung in many an Israeli household, as were the fruit bowl and the cute kittens gobelins that we later received.

There was definitely an Eastern European aspect to the whole needlework thing as Israelis of Russian and Polish origin looked to all things French as the height of culture, while others hearkened back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire (it turns out that Hungary is also a big producer of horrifically sentimental romantic gobelin canvases). Despite the fact that everyone’s flats were furnished in Danish modern-style furniture, you never knew when a tapestry-covered chair or ottoman was suddenly going to turn up.

But it’s very likely that the local Bedouin and Palestinian embroidery was also a big influence. For instance, my Israeli mother was definitely an embroidery groupie, and spent hours and days scouring the Old City shuk for just the right black velvet embroidered jacket and long black dress. She also patronized the Bethlehem Arab Women’s Union (BAWU), which has been running an embroidery cooperative since 1968. More about BAWU and 16 other local artisan projects can be found at the Sunbula fair trade organization website.

There are some young Israeli designers who also resonate to the nostalgia vibe, such as bag designer Shiri Hyman of boutique Fabrica in Tel Aviv’s trendy Gan HaHashmal, whose gobelin-inspired pieces are sold in London boutiques as well as close to home.

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Nostalgia Sunday – Take a Hike, Alte Zachen!

November 8, 2009 - 4:09 PM by · 7 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture 

It’s the end of an era. Ynet News reported today that following six-year struggle, Tel Aviv has become the first city in Israel to prohibit the entry of horse-drawn carriages into its territory.” That phrase, “horse-drawn carriages” is a pretty euphemism for the age-old Jewish profession of dealing in rags, bones and bottles. In other words, alte zachen. (The phrase is used universally even though for most Israelis in the trade it is about the only Yiddish word they will ever know).

Maybe - Alte Zachen in Tel Aviv

According to Ynet, “The Tel Aviv Municipality and the Ministry of Transportation recently completed the posting of 23 road signs across the city’s southern entry routes which ban the entry of horses. The step completes a six-year long struggle to remove metal traders and junk peddlers from the city, who do their business using horse-drawn carriages.” So, no more surrealistic traffic jams like this:

Yoav Lerman - Alte Zachen in Tel Aviv

“Attorney Reuven Ladiansky, who was elected as a Tel Aviv Municipality representative a year ago together with his Latet Lihyot (Let Live) movement, led the campaign against horse labor in the city. He was joined by Councilman Dr. Moshe Tiomkin, who acts as head of the municipality’s Transport & Parking Authority.”

Kindness to animals is a value in which I believe – and trust me, legislation of this sort was necessary as the horses working in the service of the local rag n’ bone men never seemed to be the happiest of creatures. Nonetheless, part of me will miss the clash of images that was so emblematic of this country: modern 20th and 21st century electronics being transported by ancient means.

Shira'le - Alte Zachen in Tel Aviv

It’s also unclear how the Tel Aviv ban can possibly affect animal-drawn carriage use everywhere else in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, where beasts of burden have traditionally been, well… just that. It looks like organizations like Latet Lihyot, Hakol Chai and Safe Haven for Donkeys in the Holyland will still have plenty of work to do.

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