Windows Winter 2006 - Jerusalem Foundation

Understanding
Coexistence:
Z
einab Alyan still remembers
her first art lessons as a nine
year old elementary school
girl. Although held with very limited
supplies and in a cramped, two-room airraid
shelter for lack of space, the thrill
of being able to let her imagination soar
despite the somewhat stifling quarters
has stayed with her to this very day.
Sixteen years later the air-raid shelter
has given way to the spacious and wellstocked
Djanogly Visual Arts Center,
located in a handsome courtyard building
in Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood.
The Center is a far cry from the air-raid
shelter where Alyan first discovered the
power of art. Established in 1991, it is
home to an array of artistic opportunities
that would fuel any young artist's dreams
and also provides an island of creativity
and respite for Jews and Arabs of all
ages. Alyan too has come full circle,
working as a translator for groups of
Jewish and Arab students at the Center’s
annual summer camps.
Last year 48 Arab and Jewish students
from ages 8 to 14 came together at the
Center for a summer of joint artistic
creation and exploration. The wide variety
of media available at the Center, including
drawing, painting, ceramic sculpting,
embroidery, clay, aluminum and more,
all speak a common language for which
words, whether Arabic or Hebrew, are
not needed. As one young camper noted:
Comrades-in-Arts
Visual art with a vision toward a better future
Keren Zfania, JF Projects Department Culture and Coexistence Coordinator
“Art is fun for everyone, and it’s something
we can all do together. We didn’t even
notice that we were actually getting to
know each other as we worked! We were
so busy with our creations, so caught up
in the colors and the materials and laughing
together, and when it was all done we
looked up and realized we’d become
friends!”
“I was worried at first,
because I thought they
were different and not
like us. But then we
started to paint
together and I forgot!”
Indeed, the Djanogly Center truly is more
than just a haven for artists. It is also a
meeting place for joint creativity and the
building up of trust and mutual
understanding. This year’s camp theme
- Home - fit this purpose particularly well.
One activity, for example, had a group of
Arab and Jewish girls eagerly holed up
together in a dark room at the Center to
analyze photos they took of objects in
their homes. Heads bent close together
they mulled over the photos, delighting
in the similarities and differences of the
items they photographed and explaining
small details to one another.
In addition to joint creativity, activities
at the summer camp also allow for
participants to express themselves - their
thoughts, feelings and cultural heritages
- through their artwork. Although the
works are all inspired by the common
theme, every creation is unique and
emphasis is placed on expressing oneself
while working in cooperation with another,
as well as on respecting the expressions
of others.
The summer camp also offers the Jewish
and Arab youth, most of whom live and
study in completely isolated worlds albeit
in the same city, the opportunity to spend
time with one another—full days at a time
in fact - which in turn helps them get to
know one another and develop new bonds
and friendships.
At the Ein Yael Living Museum and other
Jerusalem institutions the scene is similar,
with Jewish and Arab youngsters coming
together for mutually enjoyed summer
camp activities. Indeed, the Jerusalem
Foundation is firmly committed to fostering
understanding and overcoming mistrust
and fear, and programs which bring Arab
and Jewish children together to engage in
joint daily activities do just that: they help
change attitudes, dissolve suspicion and
begin the process of building trust.
Each summer youth at Djanogly, Ein Yael
and other museums and sites around
Jerusalem happily greet their new comradesin-arts,
knowing that every day they spend
together and with every new joint creation
they will be breaking exciting new ground
towards a better, common future.
DONOR: Sir Harry Djanogly, UK
8 Windows on Jerusalem Winter 2006