Something good, even exciting, is happening in the city of Ramla. The small town in the Judean Plain that used to be a transit station on the way from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and now it is experiencing a burst of action, change and facelift, especially in the cultural and artistic aspects, led by the curator Dr. Smadar Shefi, with the director of the CACR Center for Contemporary Art and the Ramle Museum The lively, and with the full support of the Municipality of Ramla and the Mayor Michael Vidal, and it is already evident in its sites and alleys that it attracts many visitors.
One of the oldest and most unique sites in Ramla is the Arches Pool, which is currently being upgraded as a place for art. At the end of the narrow staircase that descends into the space of the Arches Pool, visitors have a unique experience.
While rowing with boats in the pool water, visitors are exposed to the “reflection” a unique work of art by the video and sound artist, Dor Zelicha Levy, created especially for the historic site inaugurated in 789 AD as part of the water supply system for locals and flocks. In 1971, the Arches Pool served as the filming location for the movie “Blockade and the No Man’s Land.” And these days a visitor center is being set up next to it. The construction of the space reflection booth in the historic building of the pool took about a year, and involved many challenges, as well as the import of professional equipment from abroad and the design of unique facilities.
At the center of the work are musical works sung in Hebrew and Arabic that emanate from eight speakers hung from the pool ceiling. In parallel with the sound, rounded images originating from ancient musical instruments are projected on the walls. These were photographed while playing on them: skins stretched on drums as well as a decoration that originated in the opening of the oud’s resonator box.
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The images of the drum circle and the opening box of the oud projected on the pool walls create emotional perspectives in the viewers and are reminiscent of the church rosette windows, similar to those adorning the Franciscan monastery in ancient Ramla. You can listen to different sections of the musical works, “explains Dr. Shefi.
“Boa” is based on popular Arabic songs, to which Jewish poets have composed Hebrew words, piyyutim that deal with expressing love for God and longing for redemption. The love songs in Arabic are known for their performance by Arab singer-songwriters such as Peyroz, and Tzabah Fakhri, with the Hebrew piyyutim playing at the same time, creates a harmonious relationship between them within the performance.
In his work ‘Reflection’, Zelicha Levy turns this bubble of reality into a place of introspection and opening, and critics are surrounded by images and sounds. The work touches on many levels of associations, emotions and memories, moves between past and present. Being able to hear even what sells less and creates amazing moments, “says the curator.
Dor Zelicha Levy often deals with the preservation and processing of personal and collective memories and brings them to life in his works. His work “Reflection” will be shown until June 2023.
On the other side of the city, the social art project “Red Wing” by the artist Meidad Eliyahu was launched this weekend at the CACR Center for Contemporary Art in Ramla. The art center, which opened in 2019 and is headed by curator Dr. Smadar Shefi, operates in the Ramla Museum complex. “Red Wing” was made in collaboration with the Indian community in Ramla.
The “Red Wing” project, curated by Dr. Smadar Shefi, consists of works by Meidad Eliyahu and a local-community art archive that Eliyahu created and collected together with the people of the city. And of the members of the community.
The archive is displayed next to the exhibition, and during its presentation it will expand with works done by the workshop participants at the center. The work is based on a collection of sculptural engravings made of copper that were created and collected in the city alongside painting, sculpture and drawing works. The copper works in the exhibition include a kind of curtain made of cashew-like copper pieces. The curtain hangs from the center roof and grows thanks to the weaving work of the copper cashews of the visitors. Spicy cashews are known as a common dish in India. Elijah’s father brought from one of the Indian shops in Ramla, and these served as inspiration for the placement.
From “Red Wing” (Photo: Igor Farberov)Further work presents a hollow and rough tube due to the act of stamping, placed in the center of the space and simulating a stem leading to other and imaginary spaces. The object is made of vertebrate vertebrae inspired by the tall and ancient palm tree trunks of Ramla and the coconut trees of Carla.
On the other side of the gallery hangs a double page of a copper notebook pierced with texts in Hebrew, English and Malayalam) the common language of the state of Carla in India, a work inspired by a notebook the artist discovered when visiting a Cochin family in the city. In the notebook, concepts, inscriptions and recipes were documented that document the transition that the owner of the notebook experienced from the culture and language of one place to those of another. The double notebook that Elijah created on a copper plate, mentions the declaration of the rights of the Jews granted by the Maharajah in Kerala in 1000 AD.
The exhibition of the social project contributes to raising awareness of the procedures for the erasure and repression of Indian Jewish culture in Israel, with groups of the community living in Ramla in various shades. Meidad Eliyahu’s father was a public figure in Ramla and the exhibition is dedicated to his memory.
The road from the Arches Pool to the Ramla Art Center CACR passes through streets and alleys, between ancient houses, shady trees and the streets of the bustling market as art connects churches, mosques and galleries. For example, at one of the stops we stopped to visit the Franciscan church, to take a closer look at a painting depicting the removal of Jesus from the cross, a painting attributed to the renowned Renaissance artist Titian. Is this the original painting? Opinions on this are divided.