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Jerusalem's old central market gets with it

I realized recently that even Jerusalem is keeping up with modern times. I went down to Machane Yehuda,
the old outdoor market, to show some visitors our traditional foods of grilled meats, shishlik, and middle eastern
salads. But the old restaurants had become fancy and yuppified, or turned into chains, and the place was
thronged with twenty-somethings (our "Millenials"). I came back for a closer look on a shabbat, when everything
is closed (we're not Tel Aviv yet), and discovered that the shutters which close off the stores had become a vast
street art project. A little background checking told me that the artist, Shlomo Souza-Kohn, a British-Israeli
Yeshiva student who lives in the area, had painted something like 200 stores with pictures of famous rabbis or
political figures, or even the store owners themselves, always after consulting with the owners. Here are some
examples,

L8002285 by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr
L8002312 by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr

and the whole series is here: https://www.flickr.com/gp/133969392@N05/cU165L
See whom you can identify.

scott
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Scott,

I'm so glad to see this. It's a very different esthetic to the gaunt, hallowed artistic urbanscapes of Mea Shearim that our Benny, our other Jerusalemite does. Yours are very out there and journalistic.

I didnt know about this artist. I wonder whehter the artis'ts fame will strees his religiosity.

Asher
 
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Scott,

I'm so glad to see this. It's a very different esthetic to the gaunt, hallowed artistic urbanscapes of Mea Shearim that our Benny, out other Jerusalemite does. Yours are very out there and journalistic.

I didnt know about this artist. I wonder whehter the artis'ts fame will strees his religiosity.

Asher

Both coexist -- modern western-oriented Tel Aviv (where we pick up delicious fresh vegetables in a huge, crowded supermarket next to my mother-in-law's place on Friday nights before dinner),
and the self-assurance of the black-clothed ultraorthodox districts in Jerusalem and elsewhere. And there is a third, growing sector -- the west bank settlements, which are also increasingly religious,
but not ultra-orthodox. These are today's pioneer Zionists, replacing the kibutzniks in Israeli society.
See if you can find Nick Waplington's "Settlement" for a 2-3 year report on his stays with these families, funded under the "This Place" project that Frederic Brenner ran in 2014.

There were some good news stories on Solomon Sauza-Kohn (his English name, just Google it) that appeared when the paintings started, e.g. in the Guardian. I don't think he is famous yet,
as his style is not cynical enough. The paintings are pretty direct, reflecting the kitschy taste that you find on living room walls and inside sukkot all around.
(On the covers of Etgar Keret's books, for example.)

Here's a shot of Israeli oranges in Tel Aviv on a Friday evening:

XPR24302 by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr

scott
 
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