Today’s Israel is a vibrant kaleidoscope of sights, sounds, tastes, ideas, peoples and cultures. Often when teaching Israel, we focus on facts and events, ignoring the dynamic and intense “life” that is lived. By engaging with the world of arts and culture, however, we are presented with an ideal vehicle for exploring a vibrant vision of Israel.
Arts and culture provide a reflection on the heart of the people and the pulse of society; they bring to the surface themes and ideas that may not find expression in other ways. They frequently serve as commentary on a particular culture by showing an x-ray of life under certain circumstances at a given time and place. The artists who comment on Israeli culture and society through visual art, literature, poetry, film, dance, music, theater and other artistic expressions provide the educator with material to delve into Israeli society in a way that speaks not only to the minds of students, but also to their hearts and souls. It is through the common language of art – a language not always verbal – that one gets a hands-on appreciation of a society in the deepest sense.
Responses
Recently I went to an art museum where I noticed three people looking at a painting. One described seeing something in the painting and the second person responded by stating that they had seen something completely different. They stood there and animatedly discussed their respective interpretations of the piece. Both were convinced that what they had seen was the true intent of the artist. Only a few minutes had past when they noticed that the third person had moved on, completely disinterested in the initial piece of art. They didn’t quite do this, but I wouldn’t have been totally surprised if they had left the museum entirely, totally uninspired by the exhibit and vowing never to return to this or any other museum like it.
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