Letter from Israel

Comics Museum Opens in Israel

By Meredith Price

These comics are part of a Cartoon and Caricature Museum exhibit that chronicles the social and political climate of 2007.

Galit Gaon looks like a designer. A pair of cobalt-blue spectacles and a long, pearly shelled necklace stand in stark contrast to her no-nonsense, all-black sweater and pants. And in this case, looks are not deceiving. When Gaon begins to speak with passionate knowledge and eloquence about the research behind Israel's first Cartoon and Caricature Museum, it becomes obvious why she is the woman standing behind the walls.

"I grew up in museums. My father was the chief curator of architecture and design at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem for 30 years," Gaon explains as we walk down the spiral staircase from her office into the intimate space of the museum. "This is the real entrance," Gaon says as we arrive at the other side of a low-ceilinged room where a high wooden deck overlooks a spacious green field lined with leafy palms. Inside, a gigantic timeline from 4000 B.C.E. to 1900 C.E., divided into upper and lower sections, spans the entire length of one wall. The bottom half of the timeline shows the significant historical events of the period, such as the first printing of whole pages in China around 600 years ago, the Gutenberg Press in 1453 C.E., and the first known caricature in 470 B.C.E. Above this historical timeline, vivid, framed caricatures with Velcro backings that can be taken on and off the wall depict things like Aesop talking to a fox on a pedestal with a huge head and a small body.

"Whoever drew this caricature knew that the audience would be familiar with the Oedipus drawing that came before it," Gaon says. "The reference would have been clear." She points out that this is what defines a caricature - its transmission of an idea that usually references something else, whether it's a serious political or historical event or a well-known figure. Caricatures stand alone, whereas comics are a series of drawings, but both have the capacity to share a point of view through an illustration rather than words. The timeline stops at 1900 because this is where the traveling exhibitions will begin and the point in history where caricatures and comics become too widespread to contain on just one wall of the small museum.

Composed of three sections that span two levels, the museum is designed for both youths and adults interested in the larger historical framework of caricatures throughout the world as well as the origins of caricatures and comics in Israel and how they depict the political and social history of this country. In the basement, an archive that Gaon hopes to complete within five years will include digital and original copies of work from Israel's six founding cartoonists, Friedel Stern, the first female cartoonist in Israel, Aryeh Navon, Ze'ev Farkash, Shmuel Katz, Joseph Bass and Dosh (Kariel Gardosh), as well as more contemporary cartoonists such as Moshik Lin, Amos Biderman, Elite Avni and Michel Kichka.

According to Dan Pattir, a well-known retired journalist who worked as the media adviser to Prime Ministers Rabin and Begin, the history of comics in Israel actually spans 80 years, not 60.

"Caricatures in Israel, especially in the pre-independence days and the early years of the state, played an important role in society because people were so politically involved, from the fights with Arab neighbors to the British sanctions, illegal immigrations and, of course, the Holocaust. These were tumultuous times." Pattir, who was born in 1931, remembers looking forward to the weekly comics that were published in the youth magazines at the time. He adds that these caricatures chronicle the history of Israel in a unique and exciting way because they tell a largely visual story and they represent different perspectives and opinions.

For Ze'ev Engelmayer, one of the best-known cartoonists in Israel today, whose work is displayed in the new museum, caricatures are a way to communicate with the masses. "Art often looks at you from a higher place, whereas comics look you straight in the eyes," he says. "You can say anything you want in them, and it is a wonderful medium to reach people and discuss current events."

Pattir, who is curating the museum's first exhibit, 2007: The Year That Was, says that this exhibit will display the social and political history of the past year through the eyes of the most important Israeli caricatures, including one of Ehud Olmert on his way to the recent Annapolis conference about to be tripped up by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who waits for him with a sneaky smile as he holds a long rope close to the ground.

"Some of the caricatures are timeless and reference the human condition," Gaon explains. "Others are extremely contemporary and require knowledge about exactly what is going on with current events today."

This dichotomy makes the museum a great educational resource, and Galit Oz, who is in charge of the production and education at the museum, says it will provide interactive exhibits that engage visitors, such as a space in which they can draw and read comics.

For Pattir, Israeli caricatures and comics tend to be more frontal and hard-hitting with their messages than those in other countries. "They are important relics of political criticism and social development," he says. "They are about the drawings, and they provide a way of seeing the world other than through words."

At the end of the small museum space, a wall of windows frames enlarged contemporary caricatures and comics from Israeli artists. The sun creates a stained-glass effect that lights up the intricate drawings, spreading a kaleidoscope of colors onto the gray floor inside. Gaon explains that this display is part of what makes the museum a three-dimensional experience. "A museum considers the visual, auditory and spatial sensors. The completion of this one is like the realization of a dream."

Meredith Price Levitt grew up in Marietta and bought a ticket to Tel Aviv on Sept. 10, 2001. She writes a column on Israeli innovations and cultural features for The Jerusalem Post. You can reach her at meredithmprice@yahoo.com.