Israeli Museums Midterm

Israeli Museums and Cultural Institutions Midterm
Aubrey Carr
Israel is one of the most amazing culture capitals in the world- with so many different
people, foods, sights, and a rich history. With so much history and culture, there are bound to be
many different celebrations of the diverse life in Israel. One of the main ways to celebrate this is
through museums. Israel has the highest number of museums per capita in the world, with over
200 museums. There are a wide range of museums in Israel- art museums, history museums,
fashion museums, archaeology museums, science museums, and countless more! However,
Israel has more culturally than just museums, although they are a large part of what makes Israel
great. There are many beautiful beaches, gardens, and theatres which hold events and millions of
tourists per year. In this paper, I want to highlight some of the finest institutions in Israel, as we
have learned much about the culture in Israel but less about the institutions within the beautiful
country.
When thinking of Israeli museums, the first thing which comes to mind for me is Yad
Vashem, the holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem. It is carved into Mount Herzl and
was established in the summer of 1953. The name "Yad Vashem" is taken from a verse in the
Book of Isaiah (56:5): "[To] them will I give in my house and within my walls a [memorial] and
a [name], better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting [name], that shall not be
cut off [from memory]." Naming the Holocaust memorial "yad vashem" (In Hebrew: ‫י ָד וֵָׁש ם‬,
literally "a memorial and a name") conveys the idea of establishing a national depository for the
names of Jewish victims who have no one to carry their name after death. The location of Yad
Vashem on the western side of Mount Herzl, an area devoid of weighty historical associations,
was chosen to convey a symbolic message of "rebirth" after destruction.
The next most influential museum in Israel is the Israel Museum, also in Jerusalem. The
Israel Museum is an art and archaeological museum. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest
and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopedic museums. It is
situated on a hill in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem, adjacent to the Bible Lands
Museum, the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Its holdings include the world’s most comprehensive collections of the archaeology of the
Holy Land, and Jewish Art and Life, as well as significant and extensive holdings in the Fine
Arts, the latter encompassing eleven separate departments: Israeli Art; European Art; Modern
Art; Contemporary Art; Prints and Drawings; Photography; Design and Architecture; Asian Art;
African Art; Oceanic Art; and Arts of the Americas.
Among the unique objects on display are necklaces worn by Jewish brides in Yemen; a
mosaic Islamic prayer niche from 17th-century Persia; and a nail attesting to the practice of
crucifixion in Jesus’ time. An urn-shaped building on the grounds of the museum, the Shrine of
the Book, houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and artifacts discovered at Masada. It is one of the largest
museums in the region.
Venturing outside of Jerusalem, there is the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. It was established
in 1932 in a building that was the home of Tel Aviv's first mayor, Meir Dizengoff. Planning for a
new building began in 1963 when the museum's collections of modern and contemporary art
began to outgrow the premises. Construction commenced in 1966 but stopped for two years due
to shortage of funds. The new museum moved to its current location on King Saul Avenue in
1971. The Museum's collection represents some of the leading artists of the first half of the 20th
century and many of the major movements of modern art in this period: Fauvism, Cubism,
Futurism, Surrealism, and French Art. One section of the Museum displays the history of Israeli
art and its origins among local artists in the pre-state Zionist community of the early twentieth
century. In 1989, the American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein created a giant two-panel mural
especially for the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. It hangs in the entrance foyer.
The museum houses a comprehensive collection of classical and contemporary art,
especially Israeli art, a sculpture garden and a youth wing. In 2018, the museum set an all-time
attendance record with 1,018,323 visitors, ranking 70th on the list of most visited art museums.
In 2019, the museum's ranking rose to 49th with 1,322,439 visitors.
Stepping away from museums and towards the coast, the Bahai Gardens in Haifa are
often referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” These gardens, located in the heart of
Haifa, comprise a staircase of nineteen terraces extending all the way up the northern slope of
Mount Carmel. While different parts of the gardens offer a variety of experiences, they speak in
a common language of graveled paths, hedges and flower beds groomed and nurtured by
dedicated gardeners. The gardens frame panoramic views of the city, the Galilee Hills and the
Mediterranean Sea. Completed in 2001, there are 19 terraces and more than 1,500 steps
ascending the mountain.

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Israeli Museums and Cultural Institutions Midterm

was chosen to convey a symbolic message of "rebirth" after destruction.

African Art; Oceanic Art; and Arts of the Americas.

museums in the region.

The museum houses a comprehensive collection of classical and contemporary art,

In 2019, the museum's ranking rose to 49th with 1,322,439 visitors.

ascending the mountain.

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