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The Okashi Museum
Next to the Knights’ Halls in Old Acre there is a building
with cruciform domes, dating from the Ottoman Period. A museum operates in
the building, with temporary exhibits of Israeli art alongside a permanent
exhibit of the works of the late Avshalom Okashi. This artist was one of
the lynchpins of the New Horizons, a group of artists that was organized
in Israel after the War of Independence. Okashi spent most of his life in
Acre, where he set up his workshop, which, after his death, became the
Okashi Museum. The subjects of his early works are rooted in the nature
and human and spiritual reality of Israel and are drawn from Biblical
texts.
Opening hours
Sunday through Thursday from 08:30 to 17:00
Fridays and holiday eves from 08:30 to 14:00
PORTRAIT MAKING – Front and Back
from 15-06-2006
This series of photographs was created in Melbourne, Australia, in the summer of 1998.
I was invited to participate in an international art gathering along with many other people called "The Bridge", so that in the framework of the event, I could erect the sculpture, "For the Artists of the 20th Century", a column eight meters high composed of twenty lavatory seats. The sculpture was created as a gesture to two important artists, Constantine Berenkozi and Marcel Duchan, who represent two polar opposites of the 20th century.
Upon completing the sculpture, I decided to take advantage of the time I had left before the opening celebration of the event to document the people involved in it – more than 120 men and women from various countries and cultures – artists, lecturers, assistants and administrators.
I set up a makeshift studio that included a school chalkboard and a chair. I asked the "models" to write their names in chalk on the board and afterwards to be photographed in two ways: the first was a frontal view while they looked straight into the camera, and the second was when they turned their back to the camera. I didn't give them any other instructions. I wanted to get a direct and spontaneous reaction from them which would transmit a feeling of objective and honest documentation. Their hand-written name was intended to add information beyond what was visible, that is, lines of individual character which the handwriting would represent.
So the project deals in viewing.
Attention centers directly on the image and isn't diverted by details of the surroundings. The unified background doesn't allow temptations, and it's used as the subject's platform: on the one hand, basic information (the name of the person photographed which can also sometimes indicate his origin), and on the other hand, more complete information about the person's spirit expressed in the handwriting. The observer is invited to investigate the body language of the people photographed (facial expression, hand movements), and to give an opinion about the accompanying clothing and accessory details they chose to be photographed with, which thus became part of their statement of identity.
The view of their backside adds another dimension to the discovery process. Like in a police photograph in which the suspects' side views are also photographed with the knowledge that the profiles contribute essential information about their image, the back view of a person can add something new and even surprising. There's no doubt that the face is the curious part and it influences us the most, but the back side supplies the viewer with interesting details to which we usually don't pay attention.
I deny the point of view that an individual photograph can transmit detailed information about the character and spirit of the person photographed. In the meantime, the camera is a tool that can only describe the face value of things. Since this is so, I suggest we try to grasp the numerous little details that the photograph supplies and follow in their footsteps on a journey of discovery and suppositions which may lead us to a better understanding of ourselves.
Abraham Eilat
April 29, 2006
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Hamam al Basha (the Turkish Bath)
A public bathhouse that was built by El-Jazar in the year
1795 in the format of the Oriental bathhouses that were common in the
Turkish Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The bathhouse has an entry room that serves as a dressing
room, with a marble fountain in the center. A corridor leads from the
entry room to a series of hot rooms, the last of which is a hexagonal
steam room, with a domed roof supported by four marble columns, with four
rooms for individual use, one at each corner.
The bathhouse building is an elegant one and is adorned with
marble floors and imported ceramic tiles.
The Story of the Last Bath Attendant - A Performance at the
Al Basha Hammam (Turkish Bath)
The Acre Turkish Baths, one of the most beautiful and
fascinating sites in the Old City, comes to life through an imaginary play
based on a line of bath attendants that tell the history of Acre during
the Ottoman Period.
History takes on an especially luscious dimension when seen
through the eyes of the bath attendant, because the Turkish Baths were
much more than a religious purification house. The Baths served as a
social center where people met for rest, entertainment and banquets. The
Baths were a meeting place for doctors and barbers and served as a house
of luxury for the wealthy and prominent as well as for the common people
of the city. This was where they talked, gossiped, laughed and
philosophized.
The Al Basha Hammam Theater takes you on a dramatic,
fascinating and educating light and sound experience. The lives of a
typical family of bath attendants introduce you to the story of Acre from
the time the Turkish Baths were built at the end of the 18th century by
Jazzar Pasha. He was the Acre governor that turned the small fishing
village into a teeming harbor city and a major trade and cultural center.
The experience is comprised of visual elements, the most important being
the actual building. The marvelous spaces decorated with ceramic tiles are
emphasized with colorful lighting. An authentic soundtrack, original
illustrations and carved figures that powerfully depict daily life,
historical events and the atmosphere of the Baths, accompany the entire
experience. The audience walks through the rooms of the Hammam with the
performance and in the last room awaits a surprise. Bath attendant Haj
Bashir scrubs, massages and bats and soaps as he weaves the story of the
Turkish Baths with the history of Acre and its active social life.
An unforgettable experience.
Opening hours
Sunday through Thursday from 08:30 to 17:00
Fridays and holiday eves from 08:30 to 14:00
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