The Role. of Art in Israel

By MORDECAI ARDON-BRONSTEIN
(Director of the Bezalel Arts and Crafts School in Jerusalem)

(Copyright, 1952. Jev.v,it Telegraphic Agency, Inca

Art has an almost unique
function to perform. a function
which goes back to the early
history of man. The drawing of
pictures to convey meaning was
one of the first forms of com-
munication.
The new immigrants to Israel,
particularly from the East, have
little means of communication
with their fellow Israelis. They
live in tin huts--for not too
long. we hope—and they see the
well-established citizen of Israel
in his home. confident and ac-
cepted. The immigrant in a
strange, new land feels uneasy
and unhappy and inferior. Both
for his sake and the sake of the
country this unfortunate errio-
tional reaction must be changed
He need not feel inferior..
The immigrant has a great
folk art fron w.i-i..tever country
he comes. There is .r.luch that he
can contribute to tie country's
well being and to the country's
culture. The singif avenue of
communication with many east-
ern immigrants is the Bible.
They welcome Biblical prints and
proverbs to adorn their meager
walls. It is a small thing, an
infinitesimal beginning, but if
we had the means to reproduce
silk screen prints in quantity, we
would not only communicate
with the immigrant, but also
teach him a great deal about
the language, the customs, the
geography. and the history of
the country. For instance, it is
possible, in this way. to teach a
person how to vote
But it is not only the im-
mediate practicaZ use of art
that concerns us. it is also the
cultural-objective that is im-
portant. Culturc— whether
music. theatre cr art—is the
connecting link between new
and old–c4t.i.z.ens
But art in Israel is not limited
to aiding the immigrant. The
well-established citizen seeks art
as a form of creativeness, for
education and for enjoyment.
Life in Israel is hard, and art,
like all forms of culture, must
be employed to give the citizen
cultural and spiritual satisfac-
tion above and beyond his phys-
ical discomforts. Art is not only
popular in Israel, but is also an
integral part of the life of the
country.
We are concerned, too, with
the importance of art in the
economic life of the country.
The Bezalel School..a benefici-
ary of the American Fultd. is
the only arts and crafts school
in the country. Let us see
what that means. Among the
industries of Israel are pot-
tery. textiles and small metal-
work. There are just three.
There are very few pottery
designers in the country, only
a handful of textile designers
and very few metal designers.
At the school we teach all of
these crafts and others. Every
graduate of the school is given a
job immediately and we cannot
begin to supply the demand for
the designers. The textile indus-
try depends on handweavers, as
well as designers, to make the
sample before the design goes
into mass production, and we
cannot teach the subject fast
enough to fill the demand.
All commerce and industry
require some form of commer-
cial art for advertising lay-
outs. posters. leaflets, pamph-
lets and other forms, and
here. again, we cannot turn
out good layout artists fast
enough to meet the demand.
The visual arts, particularly
in this modern world, are the
key to selling and promotion
and education; and if we
double our classes. each of the
graduates would have a job
immediately.
It is a hard question because
most of the artists are of Euro-
pean origin and they brought
with them a European culture
.nd development. Many, like my-
self', are products of the modern
/school. My teachers, for example,
were Feininger, Klee and Kan-
dinsky. But in Israel I find my-
self attached to the deep roots
of my people, not the Jew de-
picted in East European or Ger-
man or Russian art, but to two
kinds of Jews, the man who set-

tied centuries past in Israel and
the man who builds a new coun-
try today.
For instance, I painted a pic-
ture of Safed, and I tried to
show what I felt about this an-

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42 THE JEWISH NEWS

Friday, April 11, 1952

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cient -and htily city: There Is
something, I hope, of cabbalism
in the painting, something of
the centuries-old depth of the
city and the history of the Jew.
We artists are caught in a
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