A Glimpse of Paradise

The vibrant Armenian ceramics found throughout Jerusalem’s built landscape represent a unique style: a school of pottery born only a century ago and appreciated by the Holy City’s diverse populations. A wide-ranging display tells the story of this art, from its roots in the Dome of the Rock’s 16th-century cladding and the 18th-century tiles in the Armenian St. James Cathedral, through the school’s emergence and flourishing during the British Mandate, to the present Jerusalem Armenian ceramicists – David Ohannessian, the Karkashians, and the Balians – is supplemented by the work of present-day artists, as well as by a special project by students in the Bezalel Academy’s ceramic screenprinting workshop. The exhibition’s setting in Mandate-Period Rockefeller Museum, itself adorned with Armenian ceramics, only enhances our glimpses of the paradise they evoke.

Curator: Fawzi Ibrahim
Co-curator: Nirit Shalev-Khalifa

Exhibition in cooperation with Yad Ben Zvi, Ministry Of Jerusalem And Heritage and East Jerusalem Development Ltd.