Art Guide
For each song in our playlist, we offer an example of contemporary Israeli visual art that connects with the themes and narrative of the lyrics. This adds another dimension to your exploration of each song while enriching your familiarity with Israeli art and culture.
Artwork: Red Crown Green Parrot
Artist: Meydad Eliyahu
As this song indicates, some Israelis feel a longing for and connection to cities connected to their personal family history, outside of Israel, even if they themselves have no lived experience in these places.
Meydad Eliyahu, a descendant of the Malabar Jews from Kochi India, deals with this through his art.
In 2018, he was invited to create street art in the Mattancherry district in India, once known as “Jew Town,” now emptied entirely of its Jewish presence.
Meydad wanted to connect with his own roots in the city, as well as to tell current residents the story of the once thriving Jewish presence there.
Artists have created similar works in other cities where Jews no longer live. What makes this project unique however, is that unlike those other cities where Jews were persecuted and eventually driven out, in India, the Jews lived a safe and relatively peaceful life. They chose to leave for Israel because of religious and Zionist ideology.
About the Artwork:
From the Kochi Biennale Website: https://www.redcrowngreenparrot.com
“Red Crown Green Parrot” is the walking route through Mattancherry which deals with the forgotten cultural heritage of the Malabar Jewish community from the viewpoints of the artists as descendant of Malabar Jews, born in Israel and based in Jerusalem (Eliyahu) and a Muslim, born and raised in Kochi, now based in Dubai (Zakriya).
The presence of the Malabar Jews has vanished almost entirely from the physical space and collective memory in Mattancherry. The absence is a result of the massive emigration of the entire community to Israel as well as other circumstances. Drawing inspiration from different Malabar culture motifs the project shed light on the loss of the unique multicultural dialogue that characterized Mattancherry in the past.”
In an interview about the project, Eliyahu said that the title, Red Crown Geen Parrot, was “inspired by the themes of the crown and the parrot which frequently appear in the cultural expressions of Malabar’s Jews — such as women’s folksongs, illuminated Jewish marriage contracts, and synagogue decorations. The parrot is also a symbol of the storytelling in ancient local literature and culture.”
He also spoke about how the project’s main goal is to “preserve the memory of Malabar Jews and to shed light on the loss of the unique multicultural dialogue that characterized Mattancherry in the past…The project is a walking route through the neighborhood that the Jews once lived in. It includes a demolished cemetery with only one tomb left in an abandoned synagogue from the 14th century, along with several other hidden sites.”
And Now You
- If Israel is the long-dreamed of homeland of the Jewish people, why do Israelis long for other places? Do citizens of other countries feel this about their home countries as well?
- What feelings and associations do Israeli art on the streets of a foreign city conjure for you?
- Meydad Eliyahu uses this art to teach locals about the Malabar Jews who lived peacefully in the area until they chose to make aliyah. How is this similar to and different from parallel attempts in former Jewish communities in Christian and Muslim lands that were persecuted and eradicated?
For more of Meydad Eliyahu’s work visit his website: https://www.meydadeliyahu.com/
Visual Art
Artwork: Red Crown Green Parrot
Artist: Meydad Eliyahu
As this song indicates, some Israelis feel a longing for and connection to cities connected to their personal family history, outside of Israel, even if they themselves have no lived experience in these places.
Meydad Eliyahu, a descendant of the Malabar Jews from Kochi India, deals with this through his art.
In 2018, he was invited to create street art in the Mattancherry district in India, once known as “Jew Town,” now emptied entirely of its Jewish presence.
Meydad wanted to connect with his own roots in the city, as well as to tell current residents the story of the once thriving Jewish presence there.
Artists have created similar works in other cities where Jews no longer live. What makes this project unique however, is that unlike those other cities where Jews were persecuted and eventually driven out, in India, the Jews lived a safe and relatively peaceful life. They chose to leave for Israel because of religious and Zionist ideology.
About the Artwork:
From the Kochi Biennale Website: https://www.redcrowngreenparrot.com
“Red Crown Green Parrot” is the walking route through Mattancherry which deals with the forgotten cultural heritage of the Malabar Jewish community from the viewpoints of the artists as descendant of Malabar Jews, born in Israel and based in Jerusalem (Eliyahu) and a Muslim, born and raised in Kochi, now based in Dubai (Zakriya).
The presence of the Malabar Jews has vanished almost entirely from the physical space and collective memory in Mattancherry. The absence is a result of the massive emigration of the entire community to Israel as well as other circumstances. Drawing inspiration from different Malabar culture motifs the project shed light on the loss of the unique multicultural dialogue that characterized Mattancherry in the past.”
In an interview about the project, Eliyahu said that the title, Red Crown Geen Parrot, was “inspired by the themes of the crown and the parrot which frequently appear in the cultural expressions of Malabar’s Jews — such as women’s folksongs, illuminated Jewish marriage contracts, and synagogue decorations. The parrot is also a symbol of the storytelling in ancient local literature and culture.”
He also spoke about how the project’s main goal is to “preserve the memory of Malabar Jews and to shed light on the loss of the unique multicultural dialogue that characterized Mattancherry in the past…The project is a walking route through the neighborhood that the Jews once lived in. It includes a demolished cemetery with only one tomb left in an abandoned synagogue from the 14th century, along with several other hidden sites.”
And Now You
- If Israel is the long-dreamed of homeland of the Jewish people, why do Israelis long for other places? Do citizens of other countries feel this about their home countries as well?
- What feelings and associations do Israeli art on the streets of a foreign city conjure for you?
- Meydad Eliyahu uses this art to teach locals about the Malabar Jews who lived peacefully in the area until they chose to make aliyah. How is this similar to and different from parallel attempts in former Jewish communities in Christian and Muslim lands that were persecuted and eradicated?
For more of Meydad Eliyahu’s work visit his website: https://www.meydadeliyahu.com/
