Foto Friday – Design Museum Holon
Filed under: Art, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Movies, Pop Culture, design
Holon , the city on the dunes, has traditionally been a sleepy satellite and antithesis of Tel Aviv. So much so, in fact, that Holon’s first mayor, Dr. Haim Kugel, envisioned it as a place where the working man would drink a cup of tea on his balcony before retiring to bed at 9:30. No discos, night clubs or decadent “City That Never Stops” frippery for Kugel’s Holon.
Oh well, Haim, times change. Over the years, Holon has positioned itself as Israel’s center for niche museums, providing a home not only to the Egged Bus Museum and Israel Children’s Museum but also to the Mediatheque, a cultural centre that includes the National Cartoon Museum, repertory theater, cinematheque, a unique materials library and public library and the Israel Design Center.
And next week, on January 31st 2010, the Design Center inaugurates its new award-winning building by Ron Arad Architects, thus thwarting Kugel’s dream forever.
Design Museum Holon does fulfill the dream of its founders, Holon’s Mayor, Motti Sasson and Managing Director, Hana Hertsman who term it “the pinnacle of a sixteen-year urban regeneration programme, a process which is transforming the city of Holon, central Israel, into a global epicenter for culture and education.” A series of videos about their vision is available here.
That vision is more than matched by the building, a sexy ribbon of weathered steel, graduated in tone, that winds its way around a large central plaze, flanked by the Mediatheque.
The founders wanted Arad to create an iconic building that would provide visitors with an immersive design environment, and the Design Museum is Arad’s first architectural project of this scale. As he explains it, “Holon is a city which is re-inventing itself culturally, with ambitious plans that are investing a lot into culture. The concept of this museum in the Middle Eastern sun is just one instance.”
“Every project is unique; each one invites a different response. When we started working on Design Museum Holon, it was like a white canvas, things developed and a direction was formed. We created a hierarchy of outdoor spaces so you walk in under the building into a semi-covered yard, where you have a choice to take the air-conditioned route or one exposed to the elements. The building envelope is not just a pretty space; it’s also a structure.”
An interview with Arad about the museum can be found here:
The Design Museum’s annual program will showcase site-specific exhibitions by invited international curators as well as travelling exhibitions. A historical collection of Israeli design is also being created and the museum’s permanent collection will be unveiled in five to seven years. The first exhibition opens on March 4th 2010. More details on www.dmh.org.il. Photos courtesy of Design Museum Holon’s Facebook page – become a fan today!
Foto Friday – Face, Body at Bezalel
Filed under: Art, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Life, design
Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Art & Design will be holding a conference this coming Tuesday entitled “Face, Body”.
Bezalel is Israel’s oldest and most prestigious academy of art and design whose students in the arts, design and architecture become leaders in their fields in Israel and the world.
Photo by David Adika
The conference, hosted by Bezalel’s photography department, will deal with the ways in which the face and body is presented in the plastic arts, in poetry, film and video, as well as in philosophy and science.
Photos by Eyal Ben Dov
The long explanations put forth by the organizers: “The face and the body are material and likeness. The face and the body are both real and the presentation of the real or the similar that enables the existence of the self and the other (everyone is both self and other) in various spheres as well as in discourse about the matter. The face and the body can also be addressed in the context of space and time, power interactions, as concepts and perceptions, as a covering and as what is contained within the cover.”
In a word: verisimilitude.
Image by Reuven Kuperman
Speakers include some of Israel’s leading art photographers and videographers, including department head Micha Kirshner, Reuven Kuperman, Simcha Shirman, Miki Kratsman, David Adika, Eyal Ben Dov, and videographer Alona Friedberg.
Click on the links to learn more about some of Israel’s premiere photographers. More information about the conference can be found on the Bezalel website.
Technology for the Birds
Filed under: Business, Environment, General, Israeliness, Technology, Travel
It almost sounds like a joke – something out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon, maybe. But “bird strikes” are apparently a serious problem for pilots and planes. That’s, apparently, what happened to a U.S. Airways jet that was forced to land in the Hudson River after taking off New York’s LaGuardia Airport minutes before. Nobody was hurt – amazingly – but in the battle between birds and pilots, humans haven’t always fared so well against avians. Luckily, Israel is on the case, working on ways to keep birds and planes away from each other!
According to experts, bird strikes – where a bird gets sucked into a jet’s engine, discombobulating the avionics (check out the photo of what an engine hit by birds looks like) – is not all that rare, and has plagued planes and even rockets. While not common in civilian aviation, bird strikes appear to be a near-plague for military flyers, according to this website which lists dozens of crashes, ejections, and even deaths of pilots due to bird strikes (at least two Israeli pilot deaths are listed). 
Because Israel is on the main north-south migratory route for birds, the IDF has been very concerned with bird strikes. According to the “Bird Strike Committee Proceedings” for 2002,
the Israeli Air Force (IAF) has focused attention in bird strike prevention on collisions between aircraft and migrating birds during low-level flight operations. Only in the last 2 years has the IAF begun to tackle the problem of reducing bird-aircraft collisions at or near airfields. A dramatic shift in thinking has led the IAF to initiate complete wildlife control programs at its airbases, featuring the employment of border collies and wildlife control officers to help eliminate the risk of wildlife collisions within the control zone (CTR) of each airfield.
As a crucial component of this program, the IAF has initiated major changes in habitat management at airfields, eliminating agricultural initiatives and undergoing large-scale modifications in airfield maintenance practices. Additionally, the IAF has altered flight and ground operations where possible to attenuate the risk imposed by birds and has coordinated efforts within various departments at each airbase to address bird strike control issues. Awareness and the resolve to eliminate wildlife hazards at its airfields are key features to the IAF’s new directive on bird strike prevention. Though still in its infancy, the IAF’s new wildlife control program has already shown dramatic improvements in the reduction of bird strike hazards at airbases.
My friends at the Fisher Institute in Herzliya have been on this problem as well, and have developed some new technology to ensure that both planes and birds can share the skies, that I hope to be able to report more about soon.
Ward Off Evil Eyes With Handmade Israeli Jewelry and Jewish Gifts From Israel
‘Tis the season to be jolly, if you are a Christian. But a number of holidays for people of all faiths intersect around this time. It’s more noticeable if you live in the Middle East. Over here in Jaffa a couple of weeks ago, Muslims everywhere were celebrating Eid al-Adha; and Jewish people start lighting candles and gorging on jelly-filled doughnuts for Hanukah starting next week.
But whatever the season, or holiday, unique gift-giving is always something on our minds. When it comes to choosing gifts that are “green” the options are limited even more. One nice way to “say I love you” to someone in a way that is soft on the environment, is to give something handmade. Trendy, with no official religious affiliation is the good old hamsa, one of our faves, which means “five” in Arabic.
According to Wikipedia, an alternative Islamic name for this charm is the Hand of Fatima or Eye of Fatima, in reference to Fatima Zahra, the daughter of Muhammad. An alternative Jewish name is the Hand of Miriam, in reference to Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. It is a kind of “protecting hand” or “hand of God.”
Some associate the significance of the five fingers to the five books of the Torah for Jews, the Five Pillars of Islam for Sunnis, or the five People of the Cloak for Shi’ites.
In recent years some activists for Middle East peace have chosen to wear the hamsa as a symbol of the similarities of origins and tradition between the Islamic and Jewish faiths. The fingers can point up or down.
Among Jews in Israel, it’s considered a Jewish gift, but one appropriate for Muslims, Christians, pagans and the unaffiliated. When I went to see my Catholic cousins in Scotland last year, it was hamsas for everyone.
While the gifts might not be certified green, there are some wonderful gift items in stock on MostOriginal.com, an online jewelry and gifts store that sells handmade artwork by Israeli artists.
Selling Israeli jewelry and Jewish gifts, their hamsas (like Laly Cohen’s Hamsa Hands pictured above), or Kabbalah bracelets, would satisfy even the choosiest friend.
Eight wicked branches
Filed under: General, Holidays, Religion, Technology
It’s been a while since there was a bona fide technological development in the world of the chanukia. I’m not sure if the all-ice ritual candelabra of 2004, displayed proudly in Russia, counts – that’s more of one-off stunt than a development that helps the layman.
For a few years now, a product called Ner Light has been making oil wick setup easier. Lighting olive oil candles is considered to be more a beautiful and authentic practice than lighting standard wax candles, so Ner Light’s approach, which takes messy pouring and the frustratingly time-consuming wick floating process out of the picture, is a major enabler – even if it’s less fun than getting your fingers all greasy.
Now, with Chanukkit, a Pardes Chana-based independent product designer/inventor named Jonathan Bar-Or has done for wax users what Ner Light did for oil lovers. No more melting your candles to their clumsy metal cups for eight nights. Now the chanukia is the candles, so there’s nothing to set up.
With nearly 20 years of experience under his belt, Bar-Or specializes in biotech, agricultural, cosmetic and consumer innovations. His previous product design projects have included devices for treating orthosis, for DVT prevention, mouth guards for epileptics, a telemedicine sensor glove, a spine traction neck brace, a produce labeler, a facial skin treatment patch, an oral imaging system and a tooth-mounted electro-saliva stimulation device.
The world of kitschy religious ritual items seems to be new to him, but when Bar-On was hired to develop the Chanukkit as a corporate gift, he saw great potential for mass-market appeal.
With four nights remaining until the start of Chanuka, it might not be too late to order a set via the ArtLook catalog and other niche retailers.
Shenkar and Swarovski
For anyone heading toward London or Wattens, Austria, take the opportunity to check out some little black dresses set with Swarovski crystals and designed by Israel’s Shenkar College of Engineering and Design fourth-year students. They’re currently on display at the Swarovski flagship store in London, as well as the company museum in Wattens.
First shown in “The Little Black Dress” fashion show at the school’s end-of-year gala event in May, which this year honored Nadja Swarovski of the famed crystal family, the show was the final event of a student project. The idea was to examined the myth of the little black dress, as expressed by Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld, expressing clean lines and modern times, as well as the connection between the world of haute couture and street fashion. Swarovski was so impressed that she decided to show them on the company’s turf.
The flagship exhibit is on display until September 11, and then will be sent to the U.S. for a show on September 18 at the Israeli Consulate in Boston.
Jerusalem bridge may divide Jerusalem, but it looks really cool
The new Bridge of Strings was dedicated this week in Jerusalem. Designed by famed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the construction of the bridge has not been without controversy. Outrageous traffic jams, increasing costs and even cracks (yes, cracks) in the bridge and other problems have made for a PR nightmare for the municipality. On Wednesday the bridge was officially dedicated and a ceremony was held at the outrageous cost of over 2 million shekel. 
On one hand, its incredible that Jerusalem can host such an architectural marvel which is incredibly cool looking. On the other hand the bridge cost over 240 million shekel and won’t even function as it was intended (for the light rail) for at least another two years. 240 million shekel is a hell of a lot of money to spend on something so extravagant in the poorest city in the country.
The ceremony itself was not without controversy either. A girls dance troupe were forced to cover up after their costumes were deemed immodest.
…the girls, who ranged in age from 13 to 16, were informed by production organizers several hours before the event that at the municipality’s instruction they had to don black knitted hats and wear long clothing for the performance, said Shlomi Hoffman, the director of the Jerusalem dance troupe…
…The head of the dance troupe noted that the girls – who were also informed an hour before the event that they could not perform three out of four of their planned dances – had danced in the official state Independence Day ceremony just one month ago on Mount Herzl in virtually the same attire.
“This was not a religious event or an event at the Western Wall, but an event for the public at large for the inauguration of a bridge,” Hoffman said.
Secular and National Religious remain the majority of Jerusalem’s population and the forcing of the modest dress upon the young dance troupe is being touted in the media as a move by haredi forces who do not want to see Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski as the haredi candidate in the upcoming election. No one saw it coming, but the election for Jerusalem’s next mayor apparently started Wednesday night.
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