Graphics class 1950, Bezalel
צילום: לע"מ
Calling all artists
Bezalel is looking for alumni: If you also studied at the veteran Jerusalem art academy, the school wants you to register and participate in the grand graduate conference to take place this summer
If once upon a time you were surrounded by "mountain air as clear as wine", as the Naomi Shemer classic goes, while sketching a nude model and overlooking the gorgeous panorama of Issawiya, or in short – if you are a graduate of Jerusalem's Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, then log on to their website, register and get yourself an invitation to a celebration where you can get reacquainted with some of the singing muses of Israeli art and design.
Bezalel is planning a reunion to take place early this summer. The main events will be a centenary graduate conference, to which all 8,000 academy graduates are invited to take part at the event.
"It is an institution that has been around for 100 years, and has a long and relatively stable tradition," says Yossi Lemel, an advertising executive and poster artist who studied in Bezalel from 1979 to 1983. "This brand name is very, very strong. People see the fact that they are graduates of the institution as a milestone. It is indeed a mythological brand name."
New life
In a moment of nostalgia, Lemel summarizes the atmosphere at the school: "I remember that those were four years in which everything I missed at high school, I did at Bezalel. I found the profession I loved and enjoyed. Fact is, it is a reality to this day."
"Bezalel for me was the start of a new life," says Elisheva Levi, who graduated from the academy three years ago. " I met people who were like me, people who were willing to put in time and work hard for the primary objective, which is doing a good job."
Talia Keinan, who graduated last year, tells of the experience: "Bezalel and my time in Jerusalem changed me considerably. It was a very personal experience. It is possible that it would have happened elsewhere. I don’t know. There is no doubt that it is a very intensive and busy period. I really don’t treat the institution as a mythological institution. Getting to meet many people who make art was new and amazing to me."
Judaica, fashion, movies and more
Among the events scheduled for the centennial celebration are a Judaica exhibit, a new postage stamp, a fashion show, open-air video and animation movies and a cornerstone-laying ceremony at the Russian Compound as the academy begins its relocation to downtown.
The jewel in the crown will be the end-of-year exhibition to take place during July at the old terminal of Ben-Gurion International Airport. It will be fascinating to see the customs routes converted into fashion catwalks, and the duty free stores transformed into concert halls, laden with oil paintings and jewels.
