The artists' village of Ein Hod is situated on a hillside amongst olive groves and nestles at the foot of Mount Carmel, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It was established in 1953 when a group of artists, led by the renowned Dada artist Marcel Janco, moved into the abandoned Arab village of Ein Hawd. They believed that the village was a place where they could work, build studios and workshops, and form a creative environment for art and art education. After a period of time Ein Hod became the only artists' village in Israel, and one of the few in the world where artists live and create in every artistic media from the visual arts, to theatre, music and literature.
A few weeks ago we set out to explore it.
Many well-known Israeli painters, sculptors and musicians live in Ein Hod and their studios and galleries are open to the public. Their creations have been beautifying Israel's public places and homes for many years. Some of the old stone houses of earlier occupants - from the Christian Crusades to the Turkish Empire - have been preserved and the village mosque has been converted into a popular restaurant-bar. Art workshops for printing, ceramics, photography, silk screening and more are run, and during the summer performances take place in the outdoor amphitheatre and main square. Ein Hod simply bubbles with creativity.
We strolled through the streets and explored the private galleries as well as the main Artists' Gallery, which exhibits the work of member artists living in the village who have been approved by the local jury. We stopped many times to discuss the sculptures dotted around the village streets and in the artists' gardens. We hiked the short distance up the hill to the Janco-Dada Museum, set up in 1983 by a group of friends of Marcel Janco. The museum contains several galleries dedicated to Janco's work and also the work of young artists, contemporary art and video art projections.
Ein Hod was evacuated and the village suffered considerable property damage during the 2010 Israel forest fire but it seems to have recovered nicely. For lovers of art, landscape and nature, the beautiful village is the perfect place to spend a few hours. It certainly made for a memorable day out for all of us.
3 comments:
Ein Hod sounds wonderful! It is always a pleasure to stroll along a section of artists and enjoy their work! That fire must have been devastating to the artists. I imagine a lot of artwork was lost. It is amazing how we can come back so quickly as people.
Wow! I had not heard about Ein Hod before. It sounds like an amazing place. What a privilege to be bale to spend some time there.
What a great place to visit. Wish we'd known about it when we travelled through the area on holiday some years ago.
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