Catalog of a Collection of Photographs by Gérard Allon in the Judaica Collection of the Harvard library

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country—and in an attempt to absorb the cultural icons of Israel— Allon created a series of small black and white images in which he portrayed everyday objects that are specific to Israel. By writing their descriptive name in Hebrew and often with mistakes he created a dialogue and a new basis for familiarity with the strange environment. In the photograph “Matches” he adds in parentheses “(Israeli),” so as to differentiate them from others and accentuate their local value (Figure 8). These photographs are also closely connected to the issue of identity and his search for his own individuality in society. The fact that Israel is a melting pot of cultures and languages, with Jews from so many different backgrounds, leads Allon to realize that the only binding element is the common religious/historic past shared by all Jews and that images and metaphors from the Bible could serve to tie together and define the nation in formation. However, Allon could not act on this realization in his commercial work. From the early formative years of the State, and especially during the 1960s and 1970s most commissioning agencies, artists, and photographers avoided art with religious overtones at all costs. In fact, they all focused on the Sabra the native Israeli as the model of the new Jew being created in the melting pot. Yet, this new Israeli was far from being a synthesis of all the citizens, an ideal figure to be looked up to, because the model was always European, an Ashkenazi, an ideal figure appealing only to less than one half of the population. In fact, instead of binding together, it deepened the social differences between the different ethnic groups. During the early 1980s ethnocentricity became a new standard under which groups and parties assembled and fought. Figure 8: Gafrurim Yisre’elim (Matches (Israeli)). From the series Postcards from Israel, 1982. Despite that, Allon decided to create works deeply rooted in Jewish writing and tradition. His Bereshit (Genesis) sequence illustrated passages from Genesis, while the Passover Haggadah that he created and 13
Figure 9: Yom Shelishi (Third Day), from the series Genesis, 1984. also published was a new version of the traditional text, coupled with new illustrations. The semi-abstract images eventually became photographic landmarks in Israel (Figure 9). Although he constructed the staged setups for the series in the purest Jewish tradition, Allon avoided literal illustrations, instead using a contemporary visual vernacular and modern symbols. The visual elements he employed were essentially basic geometric forms, visual analogies of the four elements and colors, yet all endowed with Cabalistic significance. As Allon clearly states, his research on the visual representation of the Bible is a personal exegesis, through which he “translated” and interpreted the texts. The images remain somewhat hermetic to the layman, as one needs to have at least a basic knowledge of the philosophical complexity of the Cabalistic concepts, such as the tree of life and the Sefirot. 14
Page 1 and 2: G É R A R D A L L O N Catalog of a
Page 3 and 4: TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S FOREWO
Page 5 and 6: It is our hope that, as resources p
Page 7 and 8: What characterizes contemporary Isr
Page 9 and 10: generation—yalla bye (OK, good-by
Page 11 and 12: Allon’s variety of interests is m
Page 13 and 14: Figure 2: From the film Shevarim (F
Page 15: An additional and significant area
Page 19 and 20: tography. As conceived and expresse
Page 21 and 22: and has moved to the wider national
Page 23 and 24: I draw a basic difference between t
Page 25 and 26: If you shatter a holographic plate,
Page 27 and 28: lets us see of a just disappeared e
Page 29 and 30: AC K N OW L E D G E M E N T S My de
Page 32: TS’ERLI KA-TSERLI | ILAN RONEN |
Page 36 and 37: BI-DEMI YAMEHA | SHMUEL YOSEF AGNON
Page 38: OEDIPUS THE KING | SOPHOCLES | HABI
Page 44: MITOS | RANEH YERUSHALMI | ITIM THE
Page 48: AKEV AKILES | ILAN RONEN | HABIMAH,
Page 54: NAMER HAVARBUROT | YA’AKOV SHABTA
Page 58 and 59: DONYAH ROSITAH | FEDERICO GARCIA LO
Page 60: MA’GAL HA-GIR HA-KAVKAZI | BERTOL
Page 64: BUSTAN SEPHARADI | YTSHAK NAVON | H
Page 68:
HEVRON | TAMIR GREENBERG | HABIMAH-
Page 73 and 74:
HA-DEREKH LE-’EN HAROD | AMOS KEN
Page 76:
DON PERLIMPLIN | FEDERICO GARCÍA L
Page 79 and 80:
JULIUS CAESAR | WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR
Page 81 and 82:
HA-MEKHASHEFAH | ABRAHAM GOLDFADEN
Page 84:
SHAVU’AH | SHELOMI MOSHKOVITS | H
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MIKHTAV AHAVAH | FERNANDO ARABAL |
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MEDEA | EURIPIDES | HABIMAH, 1998
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MILHAMAH | LARS NORN | HABIMAH, 200
Page 100:
KEN HA KUKIA | DALE VASSERMAN | HAB
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MOTO SHEL SOKHEN | ARTHUR MILLER |
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HA-TAHANAH SHEL DON KIHOTEH | GILAD
Page 110:
GESHEM SHAHOR | SHIMON BOUZAGLO | H
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EPHIGENIA IN AULIS | EURIPIDES, SHI
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TUVYAH HA-HALBAN | SHOLEM ALEICHEM
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AKHZAR VE-RAHUM SOPHOCLES | HABIMAH
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TASHMAD | SHEMU’EL ASIFRI | HABIM
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YALDE HA-TSEL | TOMER BENTSIYON | Y
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P H OTO G R A P H S B Y G É R A R
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Mede’ah (Medea) (1998) 88-89 Kadi
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Ha-heder shel Varonikah (Veronica
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2004 Oskar ve-dodah Rozah (staged b
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2004 Ha-snob (JPCDPIA33) (165 image
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2004 Di Pari shvesters (JPCDPIA40)
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I N D E X B Y T I T L E O F G É R
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Farvos lakht di kale? (JPCDPIA196)
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Mah at hoshevet?: mivhan Mikhal Hai
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Shavu‘a (JPCDPIA84) (208 images)
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Catalog of a Collection of Photographs by Gérard Allon in the Judaica Collection of the Harvard library

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