Gallery Talk at the Lighthouse Gallery in Jaffa

Once upon a time Jaffa was the cultural center of Palestine. There were book publishing houses, literary clubs, cinemas and theatres, but all that came to an end in 1948 (or to be exact, much of it had been gone already by 1947).
Jaffa became a slum, and the only galleries existing in the so-called "artists quarter" (Jaffa's old city, not even one Palestinian family or artist live there, are really tourist traps, with kitschy souvenirs passing for "art").

Over the last few years alternative and not so alternative theatres and galleries have started to open their doors in Jaffa and something is happening. Although Jaffa's former proud Palestinian cultural past is not related to in many of those galleries and art spaces, the very existence of the new spaces is a happy event. So:

Gallery talk at the Lighthouse Gallery in Jaffa (13 HaMigdalor Street)

in relation to the curent exhibition by Osnat Balkind.

Saturday the September the 30th at 12 o'clock

Palestinian and Jewish kids from Jaffa make a huge wall drawing

Some things are still somewhat normal in Israel, in Jaffa: On the corner of Yehuda HaYamit / Yefet street (the "Yefet bridge") in the direction towards the harbor, kids from all over Jaffa are cooperating in painting a huge wall drawing.

They started this morning and will continue to work on the project all week through, until next monday. Each day, between 9-12 and 15-19 o'clock, Jaffa's children are invited to join the kids from "Reut-Sedaka" (the Palestinian - Jewish youth movement), the scouts, girls from the Women's Court, boys from the Jasmin hostel, children of migrant workers and many others in making a huge wall drawing.

The design was made cooperatively by all groups, by means of a long process of meetings in which all children voiced their opinions, selected imagery, symbols and colors they like. The final design based on the results of the process and put together by professional artists, was ok-ed by the kids' representatives and the Tel Aviv Jaffa municipality.

Later today images will be available on "picasa".

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