Friday, July 16, 2010

IMPRESSIONS FROM THE ART AND CRAFTS MARKET IN TEL AVIV

The Art and Crafts Market at the pedestrian zone of Nachalat Binyamin Street, near the Carmel Market in the heart of Tel Aviv was established in 1987. In Tel Aviv one can find streets with only shoes, or spices, or lamps, and Nachalat Binyamin is the street of textiles, mainly fabric, which are sold whole sale and retail, one shop after the other, a street full of fabric shops. 
On Tuesdays and Fridays one part of the street becomes alive much more, as a matter of fact there is an explosion of people, color, texture, a mixture of vendors, stalls and shops, merchandise, SUNbrellas, entertainment and music, with a variety of coffee houses and restaurants as well, all with the back drop of the fabric shops. 
It is a most enjoyable and happy sight and event. You can even have your feet massaged and your hair braided  African style.
 The street itself and the surrounding area feature an eclectic and broad array of interesting architecture, Bauhaus style among it. In the last years a great effort has been made to restore many of the buildings to their former glory, with stunning results.
At the market exquisite fashioned items can be found. The rules for being accepted as an artist are: the item has to be original and handmade, and the creator has to be present at his or her stall. The array of ARTicles and CRAFTicles sold is immense. One can find jewelery, pottery, Judaica, dolls, toys, fused glass, things made from wood and gourd and leather, from papier mache and newspaper, and even from silver ware. A lot of imagination and creativity is going on there. The prices are very reasonable and great gifts can be found. The atmosphere is wonderful, it gets quite crowded at the peek hours, but it is always fun!
 We took guests from abroad there yesterday and ended our tour at the old port in Yafo with a tasty lunch of grilled fish. I am sure they will tell about all of it at home with excitement in their voices!
My husband was the photographer and he captured the most lovely people at the market and on the way: looking at each other, eating, arguing, resting, receiving items, being pregnant, counting money, reading, smoking, looking bored, making music, smiling, laughing, braiding hair, talking on the cell phone, photographing, checking out and choosing items, watching glass being fused, fusing glass, getting a massage and giving one, looking pretty and being dressed nicely and special,  and more!
You are invited to open the link and to accompany  us on our lovely tour through Tel Aviv!
People, Buildings, Colors, and Textures in Tel Aviv Yafo, July 2010

10 comments:

Dawn of LaTouchables said...

Yael, I'll be right over--I have to go to the market with you and your husband!!! His photos are so beautiful, gives me a taste of what could be--oh *sigh*!

On the way over I'll pick up Jill, and we could all have a grand time! Meet Vered, too!!

Yael said...

Dawn, I promise you I will take you there!!!

l'actrice said...

That sounds like a wonderful place:-)

veroque said...

Dawn, I hope you well do it ! I'm sure you'll have a great time:)))

בראבו לצלם ולכתבת, עשיתם עבודה נפלאה. ממש עושה חשק להיות שם.

Pesky Cat Designs said...

What a fantastic market! I would especially love to peruse all those fabrics. OK, I'll meet up with Dawn and meet you at the market. ;)

Yael said...

You can all come!!! You too Elisa! Really! We will have a great time, I am sure of that!!!

Jill said...

Yael, please tell Uri that I clicked on each and every one of his pictures on the Picasa album and I gasped over and over again. His photography is phenomenal. I especially liked the photo of the egret (is that an egret?) on the blue backdrop of the water. What an amazing photo composition that is. I stared at that one for a loooong time.

And your account of your day at the art market is photo journalism at it's best. You captured the spirit in such a way that my heart pangs to be there. Absolutely, let's gather the whole gang and we'll go arm in arm to peruse the bounty together. I love your blog!

Sheva said...

This is AMAZING, Yael! Next time we're in Israel, you have to promise to take me there, ok?

Yael said...

I PROMISE! I'll buy you ice cream too!!!
:-)

Anonymous said...

indeed Yael ! Not only that we are telling about the wonderful weekend in Israel we had, we even searched the internet for your blog to show something from your work to our family ... e trovato bellissime foto con commenti molto appropriati. What a nice experience!
grazia & joerg