Designist Dream

I love urban renewal/ development projects that utilize art and culture. And lord knows, Israel’s Southern region could use a boost of tourism these days. Below two new sites down South (or at least South of where I live) for seeing Israeli art that don’t appear in your guidebooks:

You’re going to have to start counting the number of museums in Holon on two hands now as the Israeli Caricature and Comics Museum kicked opened its doors yesterday with proper pomp and circumstance. The opening ceremony included a speech from well-known secularist politician Tommy Lapid on the role of caricature in the Israeli press and from a UN-sponsored project called Cartooning for Peace. The museum was a collaborative initiative by the Holon municipality and Theater and the Israeli Caricature Association. One of 12 such museums in the world, it will promote caricature and comics as an art form in general, provide a venue for the display of local work and educate a wider generation of future artists and educated consumers. The museum will feature changing as well as permanent exhibitions and a special area will be devoted to the social and political prominence of cartoons in Israeli culture. A virtual collection and archive will be accessible through the Internet. More information in English here and here. And from the Israel Design Center also in Holon in Hebrew here.

A little further down South in Beer Sheva, Dani Machlis decided he couldn’t live without his photography, literally: he opened a photography gallery in his home. The opening – and probably somewhat permanent – exhibition features 50 works by, well, Machlis himself. The subjects range from Israeli soldiers in action to visits to New York and Africa. As Machlis explains, “The dream is to develop the Old City of Be’er Sheva and turn it into a cultural center that people visit for its own sake. It was easier to collect my own pictures for the opening exhibition, but temporary exhibitions by other photographers – particularly photographers from the South – will appear here in the future.” The gallery was produced and curated in conjunction with the Negev Museum of Art located nearby. Machlis also intends to feature local Southern artists in upcoming exhibitions. Viewing is by appointment only, just to make sure Machlis is not in his pajamas. Written up in Haaretz here or visit the gallery homepage here.
Above, photo by Dan Machlis, from Negev series

Update: Dani Machlis corrected the Haaretz article (see comments below) and me several times (yikes!?) but he writes that his home-based gallery has set opening hours on weekends for which appointments are not necessary. Check the website for more information and call before popping over during the week or after set hours on the weekends. (Hope I got it right this time