Beauty past and present

Musicians tend to talk about making the most of the universal language at their professional disposal, and searching for personal harmony-inducing common denominators through their craft. That, they – and others – observe, enables the instrumental interlocutors from all cultural, religious and ethnic backdrops, to ebb and flow along a mutually acceptable interface while evading potential political minefields. But there are all sorts of forms of communication. They appeal to different senses and energy levels, and can evoke responses on various levels. The delectable eyeful unveiled at the Museum for Islamic Art a couple of weeks ago which, in English, goes by the somewhat cumbersome name of “Jewelry Making: Past and Present,” conveys a wealth of esthetics and an abundance of cultural import. The Hebrew title of the exhibition is the far more succinct and apt “The Language of Jewelry,” which infers a discourse aspect to the layout. Museum curator Idit Sharoni has no doubt about the ability of crafted works of art to provide an efficient conduit for interaction and exchange of thoughts, feelings and ideas. “It is definitely a language,” she asserts. “The language is translated through the exhibition. It is a language of jewelry making.” Our written and spoken means of exchanging observations and information are, of course, based on an intricate composite of syntax and grammar, as we assemble structures that are logical and meaningful for both sides of the dialogue. “Jewelry is a language whose vocabulary is various metals, precious stones and new, contemporary, materials, joining together in myriad ways, just as words are joined together to form sentences,” notes exhibition curator Iris Fishof. The art form has, she says, offered a way of imparting all kinds of senses and sensibilities. “Through gold- and silver-smithing, which brings together materials and forms in meticulously thought-out and precisely rendered pieces, jewelers express sublime spiritual ideas, feelings and values.” THE SHOW subheading says it all: “A Thousand Years of Jewelry Making – A Dialogue between Culture, Religion, Past and Present,” and the exhibition incorporates a broad sweep of avenues of representative thought, individual and communal baggage and heritage. There are several dozen silver and gold items that hail from the Christian, Moslem and Jewish communities that have inhabited this part of the world for centuries. The geographic stretch, in fact, goes some way beyond the confines of the museum's hometown, taking in, for instance, jewelry created by Bedouin silversmiths from the environs of St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula, Persia, Turkey, India, Syria and Spain, to mention but a few exhibit source locations. RILL GREENFELD'S Fertility Now pendant (above) alludes to use of the modern contraceptive pill. (Credit: SHAI BEN EFRAIM) Besides the pure pleasure of viewing exquisitely created artifacts from bygone times, visitors to the museum can get a more here-and-now handle on the original sentiments through the contributions of a bunch of local artists and their take on the ancient jewelry. That is, obviously, inferred in the exhibition moniker, and the show comprises three sections, the second of which features works made by 45 artisans who had the freedom of the museum's collection, and each chose item from the in-house repository to provide the inspiration for a new, current design. “An important focus of the exhibition is contemporary jewelry-making,” Fishof notes. “45 Israeli jewelry makers have created items that engage with, and respond to, Islamic jewelry from the museum's collection.” Fishof sets great store by the chronological seesaw. “This encounter between contemporary artists and the work of their historical counterparts links together tradition and innovation, giving rise to contemporary ideas, and offering a fitting representation of our time and place.” The newly crafted jewelry makes for fascinating viewing across a range of ornamental areas, as do the originals. The full range of the exhibition includes bridal jewelry, beads, pendants, signet rings, various receptacles, makeup containers, amulets and fibula. The latter refers to pin fasteners used by women and men in Islamic communities, and which originate in Greco-Roman culture. In addition to the bejeweled exhibits, the show includes large prints of models displaying some of the new works to good effect. An elegant lapel pin by product design specialist Rami Tareef, entitled “50 Shades of Patriarchy” comes across well, as does Merav Rahat's “What's the Matter” neckpiece. HEAD JEWELRY pieces, worn on the temples, made in Morocco in the late 19th century. (Credit: SHAI BEN EFRAIM) Some of the old-new pairings require a bit of left-field thinking to get the creative continuum. That clearly does not apply to the Rahat offering, which feeds off of a late 19th century necklace form Morocco. The original is a predominantly brightly colored work with silver, corals, amber, glass beads and cloisonné (wire-separated) enamel. Rahat has really let her hair down, going for all kinds of modern-day flotsam and jetsam. Her creation is a motley collection of electric wiring, nuts and bolts, bits of computers, recycled bottle caps and branches, to name but a few surprising components. Accentuated material contrast notwithstanding, the similarities between the yesteryear piece and Rahat's take are clear. It is a classic illustration of how to dip into the past and bring it into the present without losing the historic thread. Shirly Bar-Amotz also did a good job with her “The Beast” gold and enamel pendant, inspired by an intricate early 19th century Persian pear-shaped silver repoussé work. There is even a 3D printed item, courtesy of Ido Noy, called “Jerusalem of Gold: A Mural Crown,” which references a 19th century gold and glass bead tiara from India. SILVER, FILIGREE and coral bracelets worn by late Yemenite- Israeli singer Ofra Haza, made in Yemen around 1900. (Credit: SHAI BEN EFRAIM) THE CURRENT artist crop did themselves proud with, for example, Vered Babai letting her imagination roam freely. Her ball-shaped “Touch Wood” creation is a delicate arrangement of pencil shavings deftly glued together to form a shell-like effect. The piece subtly but clearly echoes a triad of Persian beads, dating from the late 12th to early 13th centuries, despite each having a different shape. One of the beads is an oblate spheroid, one is a polygon with pinched nodules, while the last is a circular perforated dark blue glazed affair. Babai says she gave serious consideration both to the medieval works and their creator. She wanted to delve back through time, to gain a better of idea of where the inspiration comes from. “When I designed the jewels for the exhibition, I thought about the blue ceramic beads I saw at the museum, and about their creator. What was he? How old was he when he made them?” This was clearly not just a matter of Googling “Persian beads” and seeing what Wikipedia came up with. Babai even took the Iranian artist's state demeanor into account. A JEWISH Tunisian gold hair ornament that hung from a cloth headband. (Credit: SHAI BEN EFRAIM) “What were his sources of inspiration,” she ponders, “and did he work out of a sense of joy, or obligation?” The tangible upshot of the aforesaid deliberations is an appealing work that resonates the appeal of the centuries-old diminutive spheres while taking a lead from Babai's own 21st century milieu. “Following the imaginary dialogue with the artist, I created fortune beads that preserve the identity of the antique beads, and relate to their structure and geometric charm, while also being disparate from them with regard to color, material and durability.” That, more or less, sums up the thinking behind the highly variegated work of the contemporary artist roster. SILVER, GILT and copper dove representing the Holy Spirit, made in Vienna, 1716. (Credit: SHAI BEN EFRAIM) AT THE end of the day, the projects stem from the home base. “The idea for the jewelry exhibition came from the museum,” explains Sharoni. “We thought we should present a topic that is fundamental in life and art in Islamic countries and everyone who lives there.” That includes Jews and Christians. The recent khamsot (amulets) exhibition at the Museum for Islamic Art demonstrates that well, and there are a handful of amulets in the current show. “The khamsa is a jewelry-making item in a very specific area,” Sharoni continues, noting the common ground between the Moslems and Jews in this regard. “You see that there were Jewish jewelers and khamsot makers in Islamic countries. The main difference was that, while the Moslems asked for verses from the Koran to be in the works they commissioned, the Jews requested verses from the Zohar and cabalistic sources.” The full spread includes Christian pieces provided by the Terra Sancta Museum of the local Franciscan Monastery, culled from across the world and brought here over the centuries by Christian emissaries. LATE-19TH-CENTURY necklace of silver, coral, amber, glass beads and cloisonné enamel, from the Dra'a Valley in Morocco. (Credit: SHAI BEN EFRAIM) The final slot in the exhibition features jewelry made for, and worn by late Israeli pop and ethnic music singer Ofra Haza. Haza, who came from a Yemenite family and who died in 2000 at the age of only 42, was, for some years, Israel's most widely acclaimed artist. She represented us in the Eurovision Song Contest, coming in a creditable second, and sold records in the millions across the globe. In her live work and video clips, she often used Yemenite jewelry items designed for her by Ben-Zion David, an eighth-generation jewelry maker whose parents made aliyah from Yemen. The Haza section displays some of the most delicate work David has produced during the course of his long career, including a large necklace of silver and amber beads similar to bridal jewelry that can be traced back to the region of the Yemenite city of Sana'a. Other David originals made specifically for the iconic singer, and seen by viewers all over the world during her televised shows, include a pair of earrings with hearts and triangles and Shaddai, one of the names of God. Not all the exhibits in the Haza cabinet were made by David. Some date back in time – such as a pair of filigree bracelets with coral ornamentation made by David's grandfather for David's grandmother. It is said that Haza was particularly fond of the bracelets. Sharoni feels there is something for everyone in “Jewelry Making: Past and Present,” even in the new works. “Each of the 45 artists brought their personal baggage into their interpretation of the antique work from the museum. I think most people who come here will be able to identify with that.” 'Jewelry Making: Past and Present' closes on November 16. For more information: (02) 566-1291 and www.islamicart.co.il

Beauty past and present

“45 Israeli jewelry makers have created items that engage with, and respond to, Islamic jewelry from the museum’s collection,” Fishof said.

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Beauty past and present

“45 Israeli jewelry makers have created items that engage with, and respond to, Islamic jewelry from the museum’s collection,” Fishof said.

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