Memorial Monuments
In Israel
Dina Merhav
Ever since the early days of human history,
man had the desire to commemorate. This
ancient urge to leave something behind human traces of the short existence on earth –
was the main motivation of monumental works
left behind by man - remains and traces, of
human civilizations. Death is perceived as a
mysterious, frightening entity. Coping with
death is one of the reasons for creative
motivation. Countless works of art have drawn
their inspiration on this big mystery of life –
death.
It is this primeval fear of death and coping
with the world which is seen in one of the
world's wonders – the Egyptian pyramids –
has been for 5000 years one of the climaxes
of human creation. Three giant cones, rising
over the desert plain, like three manmade
mountains. It is one of the significant
encounters of man and nature.
The pyramids, with their basic geometrical
shape stand out in the plain.
Pyramids, or triangles, carry a mystic symbolic meaning, as
does the Jewish Star of David – made of two interlocked
triangles. The repeated use of this basic shape has a
reason, whenever there is the need to translate the essence
of commemoration, memory, heroism and sacrifice into a
tangible shape. You can see it in Tumarkin's Holocaust and
Revival memorial in Tel Aviv, or Knispel's Holocaust
memorial in Haifa.
Gershon Knispel
Yigal Tumarkin 1975
Dalia Meiri had also used the triangle in the Commemoration
site in Kibutz Bet Zera.
These manmade works, commemorating man's spirit and
might, leave their great impression, overshadowing nature.
Dalia Meiri 1987
All over the world, as well as in Israel, many
remains of various periods are spread. They
represent the ancient urge to commemorate:
Burial caves, Dolmens and other types of tombs.
Dolmen in Israel
Dolmen in Jordan
Dolmen in Ireland
The important Israeli Art Historian Dr.Gideon Ofrat states that
there is a difference between a tomb and a memorial, "A
tombstone is a sign: A memorial sculpture is a symbol of
emotions, an icon. The memorial is the meeting point for the
dead and the living on the level of nature – it marks the place
and time of an event, reaching its ultimate essence on the day
and time of the memorial ceremony".
Various cultures have related to this fact in different manners,
of which the common denominator was building monuments,
to commemorate eternity.
Ancient Tomb in China
I chose Israeli sculptures to illustrate, different concepts of
commemoration.
The culture of commemoration is greatly influenced by the
prevailing spirit of the period.
During the thirties, as well as following the Israeli Independence
War – 1948, idealization of death and its glorification, was
prevalent among the Jewish population. This concept could be
found in sculptures: such as Abraham Melnikov’s -The Roaring
Lion in Tel Hai,1934 Batya Lishansky the memorial in Hulda,
1937.
Batya Lishansky 1937
Avraham Melnikov 1934
Values, such as land, work and defense, were expressed
in monuments during the fifties and sixties. Typically
represented in Mordhai Kafri's memorials.
Danny Karavan's memorial for the defenders of the Negev
(1963-1968) marks a turning point, separating the 1948
memorials from those build after the Six Days War. This is
an environmental sculpture, based on primary geometrics,
and its link to its surrounding is a substantial part of the
concept. Karavan merged in his sculptural surrounding the
blinding light, the howling winds and the scarce vegetation
of the desert.
Dani Karavan 1968
Karavan's sculptural surrounding erased every
pre-set ideas, as well as the need for previous
knowledge. Unlike the spectator's passive role in
front of the 1948 memorials – here, the
spectator, moving around the sculpture, creates changing shapes and relations.
The meaning of the Negev memorial, although
still anchored in the War of Independence, is free
of the ideological system, so unique to the Israeli
society. Even since, most memorials built in
Israel have been environmental sculptures,
some of which clearly influenced by Karavan's
concept.
Dalia Meiri's memorials are completely different from
those constructed by male sculptors. Her works are low,
close to the ground, in direct contact with the soil. They
are not heroic, nor do they proclaim the fighters' heroism.
They rather reject aggression and state their yearning for
peace, harmony and peaceful landscape, which is an
integral part of her work.
Dalia Meiri 1977
Batya Lishansky 1900 – 1992
In her memorials, spread all over Israel, Batya Lishansky
glorifies the devotion, heroism and friendship, turning them
into eternal moral values. Her memorials commemorate the
tormented, heroic route of the Jewish people, and express
human experience, a rare combination of tenderness,
strength and determination. She turns the stone into a living,
lively figure, full of faith and love of mankind.
She was awarded the Israel Prize on 1986.
Batya Lishansky 1937
The Hulda Memorial – 1930-1937, 300x200x150
Batya Lishansky's memorial was placed in the Hulda site in
1937, following 7 years of hard, devoted work.
There are substantial differences between the concepts of
the two memorials, bearing their effect on the development
of later memorial culture in Israel. Melnikov chose the lion as
a well-known symbol of the individual's strength and
dominance. Lishansky emphasizes life and work, and her
figures accentuate human elements, such as support, care
and above all – the love of life.
Avraham Melnikov 1934
Batya Lishansky 1937
The "Roaring Lion" memorial was
constructed in Tel Hai by Abraham
Melnikov in 1934, in memory of
Joseph Trumpeldor. Together with
its pedestal the statue rises 6
meters high. It is shaped in a
Monumental style, hinting
somewhat at the ancient Assyrian
east, which inspired art during the
thirties. "The Roaring Lion" is a
symbol of heroism and might,
becoming more significant and
mythical with time. The memorial
declares: “It is good to die for
one's country!“ Emphasized death.
The two above mentioned
memorials were the first to be built
in Israel in Memory of the fallen.
Avraham Melnikov 1934
In contrast to Melnikov lion’s massive stylized
lines, Lishansky chose naturalist realism and
romantic expressionism. These two memorials
have been fighting for the priority. Tel Hai has
always been a place of pilgrimage, with
Trumpeldor a symbol of national heroism,
where the memorial in Hulda has been a
shining example for many other memorials
constructed in Israel between the 1948 and
1967 wars.
Mordehai Kafri 1920-2001
The feature characterizing Kafri as both an artist and human
being is the direct bond with the land, landscape and
country. He was a warm, loving and empathic person, and
as an artist – these features stand out in his works. The
stones he worked on radiate warmth and empathy. It is,
indeed, an immense human challenge of translating the loss
on one hand, and the wish to commemorate on the other,
into a three-dimensional tangible language; to shape
emotion into mass, proportions, yet preserving its essence.
"The memorial is the core of Israeli sculpture, as it is the
core of the Israeli emotional need. It is a statement, echoing
a social idea, which does not tolerate an abstract existence
alone – it is embodied in an object, a physical memorial”.
(Adam Baruch, Secular Sculpture, Kibbutz Me'uhad Ed.)
Kafri's first memorial
stands in Nahalal, where
he lived. He was
commissioned to
commemorate the boys
of the settlement, killed
in the War of
Independence, 1948.
Ever since then he
became a sculptor of
memorials and his life's
history has been
interwoven in the history
of Israel and its wars.
Mordehai Kafri 1951
Bereavement is an inseparable part of wars, and
the loss of young lives is combined with a basic
instinct of commemorating, especially by
bereaved parents. They want to see and touch
the boy's names engraved in stone . The
memorial stands in the center of Nahalal, at the
end of a Cypress boulevard planted for that
purpose. Both the trees and the stone emphasize
the eternity of nature, as opposed to man's short
life. The memorial, built in 1951, is made of
basalt, reaching 4.5 meters in height. Out of the
stone emerges a boy, leaning on a tip of a
plough/shield, symbolizing youth, innocence and
purity, and the bond to the land. After this
memorial Kafri has been working for 40 years,
day and night, in the course of commemoration.
In 1971 he constructed the memorial for the
soldiers, who had died defending Haifa in 1948. It
stands on Mount Carmel, surrounded by trees and
rich vegetation, overlooking a breath-taking view of
the blue sky and the sea. The huge Basalt stone,
weighing 40 tons, rises 3 meters high. The stone
and the view – were both created by nature, and
here comes the artist-man and dares to interfere
with this creation by quarrying in the stone a 1.8
meters aperture, through which the landscape is
revealed, immortalizing man's conquest against the
eternity of nature. The window is divided in the
middle by the emblem of the defending forces - a
sword and olive leaves.
Mordehai Kafri 1971
Dalia Meiri – 1951
Meiri is Israeli born, sculptress. In the wild memorial
scenery she excels in her unique, original philosophy,
originating from her childhood landscapes – "A
landscape shaped by massive processes for millions
of years, unlike me – a person, an artist – a very
specific individual, with a short past. My sculptures
are a projection of my impressions, feelings and
desires on the landscape".
Dalia Meiri 1977
She attempts to blend into the landscape,
by using materials found on site. She is attentive
to ancient human cultures and follows them. In
her perception of the essence of commemoration,
she focuses on the landscape itself, by creating a
place of commemoration for the families, in which
they can feel the serenity, bond with their
memories and let the landscape's beauty sooth
them and replenish their power of life.
The Moledet Memorial Site – 1977
This site was intended to be a gathering place on
Memorial Day, and a commemoration site all year round.
The underlying idea for the circular plan of the site was
of an intimate ceremony, with people facing one another, in
a circle, and behind them the open view. All this creates a
dialogue between people and between them and the
landscape.
Dalia Meiri 1977
The effect of landscape on man cannot be measured, yet there
is some mystic effect. In the Moledet memorial site there is an
extra feeling of belonging to a certain society, home, land, and
everything they imply. Following this gathering, people's
behavior changes too, and an openness and empathy develop
between them.
The choice of material – Basalt stones - was dictated by what
was found locally. All the elements combine with an ancient
culture of human gathering circles. This link evolved
unconsciously – maybe due to an ancient historic code
imprinted in us. The circle is the simplest manner of gathering,
containing meanings related to the cycle of life and burial
rituals. The first gathering circle known in history was created
already in the stone age – Stonehenge in England – a first
example of culture being part of landscape. The mystery of this
ritual site, with its giant stones, has not yet been solved.
Stonehenge, England
Bet Zera Memorial Park – 1987
The Bet Zera Memorial Park, as I see it, combines
commemoration with all year round community activities.
It is a serene natural gem, with vast lawns surrounded by
tropical plants, dotted with sculptural structures of white
chalk stone.
Dalia Meiri 1987
The commemoration area includes three triangular blocks of rock, in
one of which the names of the fallen are engraved. The Basalt
structures are made of vertical and horizontal units, balancing one
another. The Basalt and chalk blocks link up to create the park. Dalia
Meiri's unique concept of commemoration is perfectly expressed in
this memorial park. On one hand it is a memorial park, with all the
elements allowing a man to remember and commemorate, yet the
greatness of the park is that it immortalizes life, rather than death.
The park is alive, dynamic, with an emphasis on community activities
– positive thinking, allowing the pleasures of life in nature, a clear
emphasis on the continuity of life, at the same time respecting
bereavement.
Yigal Tumarkin – 1933
"My work is a race against time and death" – this is the
motto of Tumarkin – one of the mainstays of Israeli
contemporary art. This declaration is supported by the
huge volume of his work. Tumarkin uses waste materials,
scrap iron and other weapons as raw materials and as
inspiration for his work. For 50 years he has been
burrowing his subconscious, retrieving waste materials,
into which he casts cultural and spiritual contents. He
chose to translate destruction into a personal artistic
utterance, a social protest paving new roads in Israeli art.
Yigal Tumarkin 1991 Berlin
The 'Big Chief' Memorial, Kiriat Shmona – 1968
The memorial, with its three tanks, painted in basic colors – red,
yellow and blue, is an expression of the increasing militancy in
the Israeli society following the Six Day War victory (1967).
Although Tumarkin, whose use of weapons and other
instruments of destruction referred to "toys of horror" as an
allegory and protest – the first connotation upon seeing the tank
is its being an instrument of war, destruction and death.
Yigal Tumarkin 1968
One could see in the use of weapons the ambivalence of Tumarkin's
perception and soul. His work is a metal manifesto against the actions
of metal. A paradox: Scrap fire-arms, broken tools of war are a means
of struggle for peace. Fighting against cruelty, violence and destruction
requires the use of the same means of violence. We can find here an
accord of dissonance, a wish to prevent war by war.
Tumarkin's memorials can be regarded as a protest and fight against
violence and wars, or– an expression of militant violence. His
memorials have, no doubt, had an effect on the commemoration culture
in Israel.
Yigal Tumarkin 1968
George Mosse, a world renowned historian of European
commemoration culture, found that the memorial for the fallen of the
Jordan Valley, built by Tumarkin in 1972, just off Jericho, is a symbol
of repulsive militancy. The black steel barrel, made of fire-arms,
bursts through white walls, protruding 21 meters up, is a
proclamation of erupting violence with sexual associations. The
structure rules the landscape, instead of blending into it. It is
forceful, expressing the conqueror's power.
Yigal Tumarkin 1972
The Holocaust and Revival memorial, Tel Aviv,
1971–1975
The monument is constructed of two pyramidal forms
of which one is up side down, forming the David
Star.The monument is constructed of corten steel.
In 2004 Tumarkin was awarded the Israel Prize for
his work.
Yigal Tumarkin 1975
Summary
I wanted to open a small window and explore from my point
of view, as an artist, the issue of commemoration through
sculpture works in Israel. There are thousands of memorials
of various types spread all over Israel. Some are designed
and planned by professionals, architects and sculptors,
where as others were set spontaneously by bereaved
parents, families and friends.
Israel has more memorials then any other country in
the world. There is one memorial for every 17 fallen.
In Europe, as per George Mosse's estimate, only one
memorial was built for every 10,000 victims.
This wish, to commemorate the fallen by a natural
element, such as a stone, is understandable. The
stone symbolizes primeval national strength.
Other, more profound issues, such as the effect of
memorials on social cultural state of mind, have not
yet been explored.