Modern and contemporary crafts (Art)

Hallel. Carmel. Bezalel

The Exhibitions:
Halel. Carmel Winery
'Judaica Now!':
Goblets and Kiddush Cups
of the Bezalel School

These two exhibitions: "Halel. Carmel Winery" and
"'Judaica Now!': Goblets and Kiddush Cups of the Bezalel
School" focus on two pioneering phenomenon. Both of them,
each one in its own specific field, established a material
and cultural infrastructure for the renewal of the Jewish
settlement in Eretz Israel. The two integrated exhibitions
presented here show the primary aspects where these two
enterprises overlap. The principal point here is the fact that
their produce, wine in Rishon Le‑Zion and art in Bezalel,
symbolized the regenerated Jewish settlement. Moreover,
most of their products were purchased by Jews in the
Diaspora as an emotional gesture of love for Eretz Israel
together with a contribution for the realization of the idea
for its settlement.
The "Halel. Carmel Winery" exhibition tells the story of
the winery from its historical perspective. The winery
symbolized the realization of the dream of settling
Eretz Israel. Thus, it became a source of pride and a center
of attraction for the leaders of the people and the world
who pinned their hopes on it and visited the winery. The
historical exhibition aims to show how innovative the
Rishon Le-Zion winery was during its early years as it was
recognized as the prominent modern agricultural-industrial
plant in the Middle Eastern region. The winery played a key
role in the economic life of Rishon Le-Zion and the Jewish
settlements in the surrounding area. The exhibition displays
its development, achievements, challenges, transitions,
connections with the Diaspora and how it influenced
Rishon Le-Zion and the Yishuv in Eretz Israel. The exhibition
focuses mainly on the first few decades of the winery's
existence which were also the most momentous years in
its history, during which a modern industrial model was
developed leading to a breakthrough in the country.
The Bezalel exhibition 'Judaica Now'!: Goblets and
Kiddush Cups of the Bezalel School"is displayed from the
contemporary artistic standpoint. In this exhibition also
some 48 exhibits of contemporary wine and Kiddush cups,
handmade by artists and designers belonging to the Bezalel
School, are displayed. The philosophy and artistic language
of the School's members, men and women, were apparent as
expressed in the holy vessels and articles. The participants in
this group show had all attended Bezalel either as students
or teachers, some served as department heads. A large
group among these artists later became the elite of leading
Judaica artists, whose creations now enrich the collections of
important museums in Israel and throughout the world.

Curators:
"Hallel. Carmel Winery": Yona Shapira
"'Judaica Now!': Wine goblets and Kiddush cups of the
Bezalel School": Dr. Shirat‑Miriam Shamir, Ido Noy


הלַלֵּ. כרמל. בצלאל
התערוכות:
הַללֵּ. יקב כרמל
'יודאיקה עכשיו!':
כוסות וגביעי יין לקידוש
של אסכולת בצלאל

שתי התערוכות עוסקות בשני מפעלים חלוציים: יקב ראשון־לציון
ובית הספר לאמנויות "בצלאל". שניהם, כל אחד בתחומו, הניחו
תשתית חומרית ותרבותית ליישוב היהודי המתחדש בארץ ישראל.
שתי התערוכות המוצגות במשולב, מציגות את נקודות ההשקה בין שני
המפעלים. העיקרית שבהן היא העובדה שתוצריהם, היין ואמנות בצלאל,
היוו סמל ליישוב היהודי המתחדש ונרכשו על ידי יהודי הגולה כמחווה
רגשית של אהבת ארץ ישראל וכתרומה למען הגשמת הרעיון של
יישובה. היקב מוצג מן הזווית ההיסטורית ואילו בצלאל מוצג מנקודת
מבט אמנותית עכשווית.
היקב היה סמל להגשמת חזון יישוב ארץ ישראל, מקור לגאווה ואבן
שואבת למנהיגי עם ועולם שנשאו עיניהם אליו וביקרו בו. התערוכה
"הלל. יקב כרמל" מבקשת להציג את החדשנות של יקב ראשון־לציון
בשנותיו הראשונות כמפעל תעשיה חקלאית מודרני הבולט במרחב
המזרח התיכון ועומד במרכז חיי הכלכלה של ראשון־לציון ומושבות
הסביבה. בתערוכה מוצגים התפתחותו, הישגיו, אתגריו, גלגוליו,
קשריו עם הגולה והשפעתו על ראשון־לציון ועל הישוב בארץ־ישראל.
עיקר התערוכה עוסק בעשורים הראשונים לקיום היקב שהיו השנים
המשמעותיות בתולדותיו שבמהלכן עוצב בו מודל תעשייתי חדשני
ופורץ דרך בארץ.
התערוכה, "׳יודאיקה עכשיו!׳: כוסות וגביעי יין לקידוש של אסכולת
בצלאל" מציגה 48 גביעי יין וקידוש עכשוויים מעשה ידיהם של אמנים
ומעצבים השייכים לאסכולת בצלאל. מהתערוכה ניבטת תפיסת העולם
ושפתם האמנותית של חברי וחברות האסכולה כפי שאלו מקבלות ביטוי
בתשמישי קדושה. משתתפי התערוכה הקבוצתית, עברו כולם בבצלאל:
בין שלמדו או שלימדו בו או בין שהובילו אותו כראשי המחלקות. חלק
נכבד מאמנים אלה נעשו לאמני היודאיקה המובילים, שיצירותיהם
מעטרות את אוספי המוזיאונים החשובים בישראל ובעולם.

אוצרים:
הלל, יקב כרמל: יונה שפירא
'יודאיקה עכשיו!': כוסות וגביעי יין לקידוש
של אסכולת בצלאל: ד"ר שירת־מרים שמיר ועידו נוי

The New Politics of the Handmade: Craft, Art and Design, Editors: Anthea Black and Nicole Burisch

Contemporary craft, art and design are inseparable from the flows of production and consumption under global capitalism. The New Politics of the Handmade features twenty-three voices who critically rethink the handmade in this dramatically shifting economy.

The authors examine craft within the conditions of extreme material and economic disparity; a renewed focus on labour and materiality in contemporary art and museums; the political dimensions of craftivism, neoliberalism, and state power; efforts toward urban renewal and sustainability; the use of digital technologies; and craft's connections to race, cultural identity and sovereignty in texts that criss-cross five continents. They claim contemporary craft as a dynamic critical position for understanding the most immediate political and aesthetic issues of our time.

Table of contents
List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
Contributors

Introduction, Anthea Black (California College of the Arts, USA) and Nicole Burisch (National Gallery of Canada)

1. From Craftivism to Craftwashing, Anthea Black (California College of the Arts, USA) and Nicole Burisch (National Gallery of Canada)

2. Ethical Fashion, Craft and the New Spirit of Global Capitalism, Elke Gaugele (Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria)

3. Selven O'Keef Jarmon: Beading Across Geographies, Nicole Burisch (National Gallery of Canada)

4. The Making of Many Hands: Artisanal Production and Neighborhood Redevelopment in Contemporary Socially Engaged Art, Noni Brynjolson (University of Indianapolis, USA)

5. That Looks Like Work: The Total Aesthetics of Handcraft, Shannon R. Stratton (Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists Residency, USA)

6. Craft as Property as Liberalism as Problem, Leopold Kowolik (Sheridan College and York University, Canada)

7. Zahner Metals: Architectural Fabrication and Craft Labour, Peggy Deamer (Yale University and Deamer Studio, USA)

8. Capitalising on Community: The Makerspace Phenomenon, Diana Sherlock (Alberta University of the Arts, Canada)

9. Morehshin Allahyari: On Material Speculation, Alexis Anais Avedisian (NYC Media Lab, USA) and Anna Khachiyan (independent, USA)

10. From Molten Plastic to Polished Mahogany: Bricolage and Scarcity in 1990s Cuban Art, Blanca Serrano Ortiz De Solórzano (Institute for Studies on Latin American Art, USA)

11. Things Needed Made, Nasrin Himada (independent scholar, Canada)

12. Secret Stash: Textiles, Hoarding, Collecting, Accumulation and Craft, Kirsty Robertson (Western University, Canada)

13. Shinique Smith: Lines that Bind, Julia Bryan-Wilson (University of California, USA)

14. Margarita Cabrera: Landscapes of Nepantla, Laura August (independent scholar, Guatemala/USA)

15. The Sovereign Stitch: Re-reading Embroidery as a Critical Feminist-Decolonial Text, Ellyn Walker (Queen's University, Canada)

16. Ursula Johnson: Weaving Histories and Netukulimk in L'nuwelti'k (We Are Indian) and Other Works, Heather Anderson (Carleton University Art Gallery, Canada)

17. 'The Black Craftsman Situation': A Critical Conversation about Race and Craft
Sonya Clark (Amherst College, USA), Wesley Clark (artist, USA), Bibiana Obler (George Washington University, USA), Mary Savig (Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, USA), Joyce J. Scott (artist, USA) and Namita Gupta Wiggers (Warren Wilson College, USA)

Index

Writings by Black and Burisch are included in The Craft Reader (Bloomsbury) and Extra/ordinary: Craft and Contemporary Art (Duke University Press), the forthcoming catalogue Making Otherwise (Carleton University Art Gallery) and together they have lectured on craft, curating, and politics in Canada, the USA, and the UK.

Reviews
“This exciting new anthology is an engaged and comprehensive overview of the political and ethical debates of contemporary craft and its pervasive social commitments.” –  Jenni Sorkin, Associate Professor, History of Art & Architecture, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA,

“The New Politics of the Handmade jumpstarts a sorely needed discussion about the unexamined claims that surround craft as a progressive political movement, a form of anti-capitalist consumption, and a sustainable practice. In this volume Anthea Black and Nicole Burisch have orchestrated an insightful conversation with a diverse group of scholars, artists, and curators about the role and power of craft in the contemporary art world that charts a more nuanced way forward.” –  Elissa Auther, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and the William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator, Museum of Arts and Design, USA.

In the crowded center of Historic Cairo lies a covered market lined with wonderful textiles sewn by hand in brilliant colors and intricate patterns. This is the Street of the Tentmakers, the home of the Egyptian appliqué art known as khayamiya. The Tentmakers of Cairo brings together the stories of the tentmakers and their extraordinary tents—from the huge tent pavilions, or suradeq, of the streets of Egypt, to the souvenirs of the First World War and textile artworks celebrated by quilters around the world. It traces the origins and aesthetics of the khayamiya textiles that enlivened the ceremonial tents of the Fatimid, Mamluk, and Ottoman dynasties, exploring the ways in which they challenged conventions under new patrons and technologies, inspired the paper cut-outs of Henri Matisse, and continue to preserve a legacy of skilled handcraft in an age of relentless mass production. Drawing on historical literature, interviews with tentmakers, and analysis of khayamiya from around the world, the authors reveal the stories of this unique and spectacular Egyptian textile art.

Healing Alinah is an artist, writer and social activist. She has used installation, textiles and interaction to create poetic and provocative narratives around identity, loss, and our personal and social relationships. She has worked with museums, galleries and diverse communities in the UK and internationally for over 20 years. 'Craft in Common' comprises five reflective and instructional videos, with supporting illustrated guides. Alinah created the videos when plans for a physical residency in Birmingham were disrupted by the March 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. The digital resource explores emotional commons through themes of courage, care, loss, connection and repair. She drew on her personal experiences to make examples of each theme, using materials in her home to take people watching/ making on a journey with her. She wanted to examine, in an experiential way, through making and stories, the human values and emotional resources, produced through or as a Alinah Azadeh Craft in Common result of commoning. These acts take on special significance when civic spaces are not open to host activity and people have to isolate from each other. Alinah feels human attention, care, love, wellbeing and resilience are an undervalued aspect of commoning. Through this creative resource she invites people to use hearts, minds and hands to do whatever they can with whatever they can find at home. The making process can be used as a way to: face fears, acknowledge courage, deal with loss, show solidarity, remember we aren't alone, reach out to others, value our cultural heritage, stay well mentally and emotionally and remember that we are all interconnected. Participants are invited to make for themselves, gift to another or place in a public space. This 'gift to self' includes the time put aside to do it, and the human connection it is designed to nurture. Craftspace distributed instructional kits for making an everyday courage medal by post and through foodbanks. Online workshops were devised and continue to be delivered to community groups. Participants are also encouraged to use the resource to become facilitators themselves, further expanding the scope of the project as a form of generative, creative commoning. Commissioned in partnership with Midlands Art Centre and supported locally by The Active Wellbeing Society and Neighbourhood News Online. craftspace.co.uk/ craft-in-common f Medals for everyday courage made by the public using the resource.