Abstract
Designers and artists from around the world were presented with a challenge: to create a collection of objects together with a case — essentially a travel set to accompany a Jewish holiday or lifecycle event. Such portable kits containing groups of cleverly stored items have been in use since the 16th century, and remain relevant today with the prevalence of travel in our modern lives. Now, as then, these kits hold the items necessary for the religious rituals one is obligated to perform even when far from home. To Go highlights the fascinating intersection of Jewish art — which most of the designers had not previously explored — with 21st-century design.
The wide range presented here attests to the shift in recent decades from a Modernist design perspective that views the object’s form as a direct extension of its purpose to contemporary artistic design in which the emphasis is on the creator behind the object, with a lesser focus on functionality. Although the kits were designed to be used by another person in a religious ceremony, many of them are infused with the designer’s personal history and worldview. Some designers examine a specific Jewish ritual, emphasizing its spiritual significance or adding their own interpretation — at times covertly — while others reflect contemporary design movements, from ecological, nature-based design on the one hand, to cutting-edge production techniques on the other.
Jewish law places few limitations on the design of ritual objects, and the need for portability naturally invites a simple design using durable and lightweight materials. And yet all the kits submitted reflect a desire to enhance the religious experience while also valuing holiness, beauty, and ingenuity — even at the expense of the ease with which the objects themselves are used. This exhibition presents innovative and diverse versions of ritual objects rooted in ancient tradition, while also revealing the designers’ unlimited creativity.
The main idea of this project – a specially designed set of rolling pins – is returning to the act of making rather than that of consuming, to celebrate the process of preparing and baking the most symbolic Jewish food of all: matzah.
“Looking back at my happy Kibbutz childhood, the most exciting festival of all was Passover, not because of the Seder or the afikoman, but because each year just before Passover we would go out to the forest, build our own ovens from stones, mud, and straw, on which we would later bake our own matzah. This was as exciting as any activity could be: playing with mud and stones, playing with fire, and then with food (who said children should not play with food?).”
Recalling this childhood fascination and inspired by old rolling pins from Pune, India – found in the Israel Museum archives – this project revisits the wonderful tradition of matzah-making: the rolling-pins and kneading board that form a special and celebrative kit valuing the process of making as much as the final product. Alluding to Passover as the Festival of Spring, the rolling pins are colourful and playful, offering a different perspective and perception of this otherwise straightforward utilitarian object.
Made of Corian, a mineral-based plastic composite used primarily for kitchen counters and other hygienic surfaces, the rolling pins are voluminous bodies, proposing an innovative use of the material.
“The kit is very much representative of my work, wherein I try to see each new project as new problem calling for a new solution. Rather than dictating a specific style or characteristics – I am dedicated to finding and defining the logic of each question, thus formulating its most suitable answer.”