The Art of Jerusalem

Picasso once said, “Todo lo que puede ser imaginado es real” (Everything that can be imagined is real). So when Ahmad and Oren imagined a safeguarded space for citizens of Jerusalem where they could express themselves through art and leave behind any cultural, political or religious differences, they made it real.

They first found a rooftop in no man’s land in the old city of Jerusalem. A misused space full of garbage somewhere in between the Christian, Muslim and Jewish quarters. Anyone who has visited or lived in the Holy City, will know that the population usually stays around their own neighborhood and rarely intertwines with their neighbors. So, to find a place which is easily accessed from the different quarters appears to me like a sign that this project, called Jerusalem Art,  was simply meant to be.

Finding my roots in Israel

A trip eternally postponed. I recall my father repeatedly expressing his desire to go on a trip to Israel to visit his aunt since I was a small kid. And I confess, for some years, I wasn’t exactly thrilled to visit a country that appears on the press as being almost constantly on war. Also, being a teenager, you don’t listen much to your parents or you just want to do the opposite of what they tell you.

Anyway, long story short, after many years of indecision we finally packed our bags and left for 9-day trip to Israel last August, a month before my father’s aunt turned 100 years old.

For some reason I knew this wasn’t going to be an ordinary trip, but I didn’t expect I would feel the connection I felt. It’s called the Holy Land for some reason, there is a special energy at the place.