In Jaffa, the muse continues singing (for the time being)

Jaffa, prior to 1948, was Palestine's cultural center: printing houses. poetry-readings, performances, cinemas, newspapers etc. characterized Jaffa. Both Palestinian and Jewish artists worked in Jaffa.
All that was lost in 1948. The so-called "artists quarter" of Jaffa's old city is not much more than a fake, set up for tourists' sake and not a very successful one at that. True, it is a lovely area, but it's dead inhabited by ghosts and very wealthy tourists, some galleries and shops catering to foreigners looking for kitschy memos of their visit to the holy land.
The old city is too expensive for most artists and there isn't even one Palestinian living there these days.
Once upon a time, not so very long ago, Jaffa's old city was a quarter where the poor fishermen and harbor workers lived in cramped conditions. No runnig water, no electricity, but it was alive. children running and playing in the streets, women meeting each other for a chat while on their way to or from the market, or shouting from one rooftop to the other, while hanging the laundry. All that is gone now. The beauty is still there, but she's asleep and it is not clear if and when the prince will arrive.

But not all is bad.
The lighthouse gallery, located close to the harbor at 13 HaMigdalor street, opens a group exhibit this coming saturday evening, August the 12th at 20.00 o'clock.

The exhibion is being curated by Ruth Yakobson, the participating artists are:

Rachel Shavit, Itamar Siani, Edna Meron Wavner, Lihi Gandler Talmor, Dorit Yakobi, Yaffa Meir, Ami Shnar, Etty Mor, Ilana Appel Admon, Margarita Naot, Gilad Duvshani, Dror Almagor, Hanan Shafir, Shlomo Levi and Ayelet Frank.