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Tel Aviv is emerging as the capital of cool on the Mediterranean’s culture circuit. It started with last year’s spate of homegrown films that got critics talking everywhere. Now the city’s nascent arts scene has gone full blown. Morwenna Ferrier reports
Images Alejandro Arditi
It’s astonishing to think that Tel Aviv is just 100 years old this year. True, Israel’s commercial capital is often overlooked as a poor man’s Jerusalem and on first glance, it is unashamedly modern. But with coat-taunting weather all year round and some serious gentrification projects underway, it’s becoming a much-hyped destination on the Middle Eastern tourist trail. And now the city’s burgeoning art scene – a scene so underground, subversive and contemporary, it’s practically invisible to the naked eye, and most guidebooks – has started securing recognition on the international culture circuit.
People began to sit up and take notice last year when Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and last month it was awarded a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. Equally enlightening is The Lemon Tree, the story of a neighbours’ spat over a lemon tree based on real events between a Palestinian woman and her Israeli neighbour. But there have also been numerous films distributed internationally that are based in and around Tel Aviv and for the first time portray the city in a non-political light. Jellyfish, a surreal film about youth culture in Tel Aviv and The Band’s Visit, about an Egyptian police band, uncovered the city’s once closely-guarded sense of humour.
A large proportion of these films have filtered through to Europe and are revealing Israel in a new light.
Jaffa, a coastal and parochial suburb perched high on a rocky outcrop above the port, is quite literally the first port of call on Tel Aviv’s cultural trail. While part of the municipality of Tel Aviv, the centre and Jaffa are two religiously disparate zones which have only recently united in their adoration of culture. It’s Jaffa where evidence of the embryonic stages of redevelopment, which really took off in the ‘90s, is starkly visible.
Once a strategic port and cultural capital of the Holy Land, Jaffa is now home to converted art galleries and restaurants. Shops stocked with Judaica and leather goods line its labyrinthine alleys, while Shuk Hapishpeshim (the local flea market) between Jerusalem Boulevard and Yeffet Street is a charming place to walk around soaking up the atmosphere and haggling for quirky purchases. Mazal Dagim is packed with umpteem named and unnamed galleries but the 13 & Half Gallery (on 13 ½ Street) and Studio 20 (20 Mazal Arye), which opened in 2007, are decent places to start. Once you’re done gallery-hopping, head back towards the main city, where you’ll pass through the Neve Tzedek zone.
This was the first Jewish neighbourhood to be built outside the walls of the ancient port, 20 years before Tel Aviv was founded. Neve Tzedek was derelict five years ago but now overflows with artists and Tel Aviv’s chicest boutiques and art galleries. Jerusalem might be home to Israel’s traditional museums, but this area of Tel Aviv is the epicentre of Israel’s contemporary arts scene; it’s where you’ll find cultural landmarks such as Suzanne Dellal Dance and Theatre Center (6 Yechieli St) and the Nahum Gutman Museum (1 Rokach St) located in the eponymous Israel Prize-winning artist’s home. It’s a lively, progressive province of the city, where young artists compete for space in more than 30 contemporary galleries, a third of which have opened in the last two years. If you time it right, you may chance upon subversive art students setting up a mock commercial gallery on a scrappy alley called Nahalat Binyamin.
Not far away from Neve Tzedek, the Gan HaHashmal Quarter was once the city’s red light district but, like its Copenhagen counterpart, Vesterbro, it’s now hip as hell. Expect more temporary galleries (patience and knocking are key in the search process) and some spectacular small-scale boutiques – Shani Bar (3 Mikveh Yisrael Street) is a tiny boutique stocking the owner’s eponymous collection of shoes, and a gallery in itself.
No cultural tour of Tel Aviv would be complete without a mention of the architecture. The city is an alfresco showcase for all things Bauhaus.
Recently designated a UNESCO world heritage site, it’s home to over 5000 Bauhaus buildings, a denser concentration than anywhere else on the planet. Vast, white monochrome buildings, wide boulevards and a general feeling of angles and austerity dramatically illustrate its grip on the city’s aesthetic. The most famous and established artistic hotspot is the central Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv’s most elegant avenue; it is perhaps the most emblematic of Tel Aviv’s Bauhaus buildings. Slicing through the street’s centre is a shaded pedestrian path dotted with tiny cafés, galleries and boules courts, a veritable runway for curators and collectors.
It’s here that Art TLV (arttlv.com), a new event showcasing Tel Aviv’s effervescent art scene, runs for four days. Most cinemas in upmarket Tel Aviv are of the multiplex kind, but the old Ester Cinema has now been converted into Cinema Hotel (1 Zamenhoff Street, tel. , cinemahotel.com), which still houses screening rooms and serves popcorn on tap. If you want to catch an arthouse film elsewhere, your best bets are the Tel Aviv Cinemathèque (2 Sprinzak Street) or Lev Cinema (Dizengoff Centre).
And there’s always the city’s natural beauty to contend with. Unlike mainland Europe, Tel Aviv is relatively warm, even in winter. Outside coffee houses flourish all year round. It’s fortuitous then that Tel Aviv is fronted by one of the world’s finest urban beaches, often considered to be the inspiration behind Paris and Coney Island’s annual pop-up versions. Except here, all 12km is real and permanent. Divided up according to the varying demographic, there’s a religious beach (men or women only depending on the day), a gay section, and Chink beach, hangout of Tel Aviv’s dreadlocked drummers. Walk a little further along and you’ll end up back in Jaffa where you started in this rapidly shifting city.
FR Évolution urbaine
Tel Aviv est en train de se métamorphoser en capitale de la ‘cool culture’ du monde méditerranéen. Cela a commencé l’année dernière avec une avalanche de films tournés dans la ville, qui ont reçu des critiques des quatre coins du monde. Aujourd’hui, cette scène artistique naissante connaît une véritable consécration
Elle est si underground, subversive et contemporaine qu’elle est pratiquement absente des guides de voyage. Pourtant, la scène artistique florissante de Tel Aviv commence à se forger une place dans le circuit de la culture internationale.
Valse avec Bashir, d’Ari Folman, a été nominé pour la Palme d’Or au Festival du Film de Cannes et il a remporté dernièrement le Golden Globe du Meilleur Film étranger. Jellyfish, un film surréaliste sur la culture de la jeune génération à Tel Aviv, et The Band’s Visit, qui met en scène une fanfare de policiers égyptiens, ont permis de dévoiler un secret jusque-là bien gardé : la ville a aussi le sens de l’humour. Ces films placent Israël et plus particulièrement Tel Aviv dans une nouvelle lumière.
Autrefois port stratégique et capitale culturelle de la Palestine, Jaffa a vu nombre de ses échoppes reconverties en galeries d’art. Mazal Dagim est une véritable pépinière de galeries comme 13 & Half Gallery (sur la Rue 13 ½ ) et Studio 20 (20 Mazal Arye).
Neve Tzedek est l’épicentre de la scène artistique contemporaine israélienne. Ce quartier est réputé pour abriter les grandes institutions culturelles comme le Centre de la Danse et du Théâtre Suzanne Dellal (6 Rue Yechieli) et le Musée Nahum Gutman (1 Rue Rokach).
Gan HaHashmal dans Neve Tzedek est le quartier rouge (‘red light district’) et tout comme son équivalent de Copenhague, Vesterbro, il a été réhabilité comme un des quartiers les plus ‘in’. Vous y découvrirez des galeries temporaires et de fantastiques petites boutiques de créateurs – Shani Bar (3 Rue Mikveh Yisrael) propose une collection de chaussures du nom du propriétaire et le magasin fait en même temps office de galerie.
Déambulez le long du Boulevard Rothschild, l’avenue la plus élégante de Tel Aviv, le haut lieu de concentration des monuments de style Bauhaus qui ont fait la réputation de la ville. C’est ici que l’édition d’Art TLV (www.arttlv.com), le nouvel événement dédié à l’effervescente scène de l’art de Tel Aviv, se déroule durant quatre jours. Et si vous désirez voir un film d’art et d’essai, vous serez comblé par la Cinémathèque de Tel Aviv (2 Rue Sprinzak) ou le Cinéma Lev (Centre Dizengoff).
NL Stadsupgrade
Tel Aviv is steevast op weg om de coolste hoofdstad op het mediterrane cultuurcircuit te worden. Het begon vorig jaar met de stroom van binnenlandse films waar alle critici de mond vol van hadden. De ontluikende kunstscene van de stad is nu in volle bloei
De snelgroeiende kunstscene van Tel Aviv – zo ondergronds, clandestien en contemporain dat ze nagenoeg onzichtbaar is voor het blote oog en de meeste stadsgidsen – heeft meer en meer erkenning gekregen in het internationale culturele circuit.
Ari Folmans Waltz with Bashir werd genomineerd voor de Palme d’Or op het Filmfestival van Cannes en won onlangs een Golden Globe voor Beste Anderstalige Film. Jellyfish, een surrealistische film over de jeugdcultuur in Tel Aviv, en The Band’s Visit, over een Egyptische politiefanfare, ontsluierde het eens zo goed afgeschermde gevoel voor humor van de stad. Deze films tonen Israël en vooral Tel Aviv in een heel nieuw licht.
Jaffa, ooit een strategisch erg belangrijke havenstad en de culturele hoofdstad van Palestina, is nu de thuishaven van wisselende kunstgalerijen. Mazal Dagim is dik bezaaid met galerijen als 13 & Half Gallery (op 13 ½ Street) en Studio 20 (20 Mazal Arye).
Neve Tzedek is het epicentrum van de hedendaagse kunstscene van Israel. Je vindt er culturele mijlpalen als het Suzanne Dellal Dance and Theatre Center (6 Yechieli St) en het Nahum Gutman Museum (1 Rokach St).
Het Gan HaHashmal Quarter met Neve Tzedek is de rosse buurt van de stad en, net als zijn tegenhanger in Kopenhagen, Vesterbro, is het nu een superhippe plek. Ga op zoek naar nog meer contemporaine galerijen en een aantal spectaculaire piepkleine boetieks – in Shani Bar (3 Mikveh Yisrael Street) ligt de volledige schoenencollectie van de eigenaar opgeslagen. Het is een galerij op zichzelf.
Trek naar de Rothschild Boulevard, de meest stijlvolle avenue van Tel Aviv, en ga er de architectuur van het Bauhaus bewonderen, de trots van de stad. Op die plaats vindt Art TLV
(arttlv.com) plaats; een nieuw evenement dat de bruisende kunstscene van Tel Aviv vier dagen lang een forum biedt. Ben je een liefhebber van cultfilms? Dan moet je zeker eens binnenlopen bij de Tel Aviv Cinemathèque (2 Sprinzak Street) of Lev Cinema (Dizengoff Centre).
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