During the first two sessions on campus – we will view, analyze and interpret visual culture from Israel – with emphasis on art and film. Given our limited time together, rather than trace a chronological narrative (which can be easily found in books, articles and even online resources), we will concentrate on major thematic foci, iconographical sources, and the diverse regional, political, and art historical contexts within which Israeli visual culture is being produced today.
Introduction
Laying the discursive foundations for the two sessions at Brandeis.
- Introducing the objectives of our sessions
- Introducing the primary sources that are the focal point of our discussion
- Introducing the methodologies we will employ.
- Introducing the theoretical underpinnings – ‘Visual Epistemology’: the work of art as a source of knowledge and understanding
- How the material can be worked into your courses.
- Bibliographical sources
THEME FOR 1st SESSION: HOME AND AWAY
Land/ Promised Land/ Holy Land/ Compromised Land/ Homeland
Immigration/ Exile
This section will focus on the work of Yael Bartana and Oded Hirsch. Both created monumental ‘trilogies’ that allude to a variety of visual sources, including Zionist propaganda films that glorify the early pioneers who till the soil and build the Land of Israel; photographs commissioned by the Jewish National Fund; Russian and German films from the early twentieth century; Zionist posters that attempt to visualize utopian ideals, the kibbutz community, and a national ethos; and more.
VIDEOGRAPHY:
Yael Bartana
- Polish Trilogy: Mary Koszmary (Nighmares, 2007); Mur i Wieza (Wall and Tower, 2009); Zamach (Assassination, 2011)
Oded Hirsch
- Trilogy: 50 Blue (2009 ); Tochka (2010 ); Nothing New (2012)
- Habaita (2010)
THEME FOR 2nd SESSION: DOCUMENTING BORDERS; BREAKING BOUNDARIES
This session will present and discuss work that explores the cleavages and tensions that characterize Israeli society and identity:
Orientalism and ‘Dis-orientalism’; Forbidden love in the Holy Land; Religious Divides; War and Violence.
CONCLUSION
What can we learn from art and film? How can art be incorporated into your courses? How can visual culture enhance our understanding and teach us and our students “that which cannot be said in words”.
Background Readings
Hutchinson, John and Anthony D. Smith, eds., Nationalism (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1994).
Rabinovich, Itamar and Jehuda Reinharz, eds., Israel in the Middle East: Documents and Readings on Society, Politics, And Foreign Relations, Pre-1948 to the Present (Waltham: Brandeis University Press, 2008).
Said, Edward, Orientalism, New York, 1978.
Israeli Art History
New York, The Jewish Museum, In the Shadow of Conflict: Israeli Art 1980-1989, May 10-August 6, 1989 (exh. cat.)
Kampf, Avram, Jewish Experience in the Art of the Twentieth Century (South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey, 1984), pp. 144-175.
Ofrat, Gideon, One Hundred Years of Israel Art, (Boulder: Westview, 1998), pp. 21-33.
Zalmona, Ygal, Artists of Israel, 1920-1980 (The Jewish Museum, New York, 1981, exh. cat.) with essays by Moshe Barasch and Ygal Zalmona. https://www.dropbox.com/s/7nfcu92w5cas70a/History_and_Identity.pdf?dl=0
Film and Music
Loshitzky, Yosefa, Identity Politics on the Israeli Screen (Austin, University of Texas Press, 2002).
Regev, Motti and Edwin Seroussi, Popular Music and National Culture in Israel (Berkeley, University of California Press, 2004).
Shohat, Ella, Israeli Cinema: East/West and the Politics of Representation (Austin, University of Texas Press, 1989).
Films for viewing
Commedia by Fava
Waltz with Bashir [Hebrew w/ English subtitles]
Arab Labor, Season 1: Episode 5 “Passover”
Tkuma, Episode 2 “The Ingathering”
Yellow Asphalt
Turn Left at the End of the World
Arab Artists from Israel
Ankori, Gannit, Palestinian Art, (London, Reaktion Books 2006), chapter 8.
Hebrew and Israeli Literature
Dan Miron: From Continuity to Contiguity: Toward a New Jewish Literary Thinking (2010)
Hannan Hever: Producing the Modern Hebrew Canon: Nation Building and Minority Discourse(2001)
Yael Feldman: Glory and Agony: Isaac’s Sacrifice and National Narrative (2010)
Documentaries
Pillar of Fire: A Television History of Israel’s Rebirth (IBA) Creator and Scriptwriter: Yigal Lossin, 1986.
Tkuma: The First Fifty Years 1948-1998 (IBA) Editor and Producer: Steve Edwards, 1998.
The Gatekeepers, Director: Dror Moreh, 2012.