May 29, 2017

African asylum-seeking community represented in Tel Aviv Museum of Art exhibition

Curator-guide Ruti Director with Darfurians Taj Jemy and Idris Korni

Following the tour (Hebrew) of "Regarding Africa: Contemporary Art and Afro-Futurism," Taj Jemy,  Idris Korni, and curator-guide Ruti Direktor share visions for engaging the African asylum-seeking community and Israeli artists in mutually rewarding partnerships.

The Tel Aviv Museum of Art exhibition is a multimedia prism reflecting sub-Saharan African post-colonial realities and visions; and, aspects of the imagination, fantasy, and reality of the south Tel Aviv African asylum-seeking community.

Click Artists to view images of paintings, sculptures, photographs, architectural models, and videos. Click each image to learn about the artist and view their other works.

May 27, 2017

Ramadan Mubarak to my Muslim and Ismaili friends



Last evening, I walked along the Mediterranean Sea to join my friends in Jaffa for the Shabbat evening meal. Once there, lovely was hearing the melodious chanting call of the muezzin to Muslim believers to come to prayer. On this eve of Ramadan, a month of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting, and nightly feasts, Muslim residents of the neighboring streets were enjoying their evening meals at tables set up close to their homes and in restaurants under decorative colored lights.

Later that evening, setting out to return home, kind celebrants guided me to the main street, Jerusalem Boulevard. They graciously responded to my Hebrew "khhag sameakh" — an awkward though well-meant happy holiday greeting. I always panic scrambling for proper Arabic expressions though I have studied them many years, flunking courses, tutorials, and attempts to teach me. NOTE: Learn languages as early and as young as possible!

Related post
In Beit Jala, the West Bank: Breaking the Ramadan fast