Israel Judaica Ketubah Papercut Gifts Artist Granot Provides Childrens Hanukkah Workshop

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By Israel News Agency Staff

Jerusalem----December 14......Renowned Israel Judaica Ketubah papercut artist Archie Granot, who has been conducting very popular artist-in-residence workshops for a number of years, will now be providing a children Hanukkah workshop in Israel.

"I am amazed at how many Jewish children can come into a papercut workshop and think that "a" follows "b" - not allowing themselves to think creativity out of the box," says Granot. "Last year I was an artist in residence in Los Angeles. I worked with about 500 children in a number of schools and a Temple. Now I will have the pleasure of working with about 25 Jewish children from New York who are coming to celebrate Hanukka in Israel. I will be teaching them the art of papercutting and the working with Jewish symbols."

Granot has been involved in several very successful Judaica papercut art programs that have been tailored to meet the needs of synagogues and Jewish community centers in the US and Israel. His papercut workshops for children allow the participants to create their own multi-layered and colored papercuts on a theme relevant to the Jewish life cycle. This program is appropriate for third graders and up and can be held after school, in an evening or on a Sunday. A workshop can be held in conjunction with an illustrated lecture geared to the adult community in which Granot talks about his papercut Ketubah art gifts and discusses the Jewish themes of Passover, Purim, Hanukkah, weddings, marriages and other special Jewish holidays and events which are such an integral element of his work. Granot displays examples of his Judaica papercuts which may also be purchased as wedding gifts or for private and public collections.

Israel artist Archie Granot is one of the leading Judaica paper cut artists in the world, with his Ketubah papercut art being viewed in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, London, Manchester, Paris, Rome and in South America, Africa and the Far East. His creative papercuts - ketubahs (ketubot), mizrachs, mezuzahs, blessings for the Jewish life cycle and more - both revive and continue a traditional Jewish art form while innovating against it. Distinguished by multiple layers of paper, Granot produces creative and beautiful papercuts - complex and impressive works, each cut with surgical scalpel, require a lengthy and intuitive process of creation, a process often hidden beneath the multiple layers of paper. Curves and links are interwoven creating incredible depth, texture and movement to which limited and careful use of gold leaf and woven papers only adds.

Archie Granot's use of Hebrew inscriptions, handcut in astonishingly precise calligraphic letters in his papercuts, is an integral part of his work. Many of the texts relate to Jerusalem, Judaica, Jewish, Judaism and Israel. Granot's paper cuts carry a reminder of the Holy City, a source of his inspiration to Jews, Christians and Muslims. To take in the whole image, one must stand at a distance. And yet the intricacy of the cut invites you to view the creative details from close up. The paper cuts of Archie Granot have been exhibited extensively and are in public and private collections around the world.

Archie Granot was the only Israel artist to be featured in the 2001 edition of Nouvel Objet, a prestigious South Korean art periodical, specializing in "Objet Art", which is published bilingually in Korean and English. He was the featured artist on the poster for the USA 2003 Jewish Book Month. As with any fine work of art, the originals must be seen to be fully appreciated. However a "walk" through this papercut virtual gallery on the Internet will provide a feel for the uniqueness and extraordinary beauty of a Judaica paper cut by Archie Granot.

Lectures can also be given independently. One can view papercuts created at the Channukah workshops given by Archie Granot at the Congregation Mishkan Tefila Chestnut Hill, Ma and at the Katz JCC, Cherry Hill, NJ.

Born in London, England in 1946, Archie Granot moved to Israel in 1967. Before moving to Jerusalem in 1978 where, the following year, he discovered his extraordinary art talent, he was a member of an agricultural community where he milked cows and grew melons.

Archie Granot has created non-profit Jewish organizations donor and other recognition works for the Ramaz Schools, New York; the American Jewish Committee, New York; the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education, New York; Gesher, Israel; the UJA Federation of New York; Nishmat, New York; Beit Knesset Moreshet Yisrael, Jerusalem; Women of Reform Judaism, New York and the Hebrew Free Loan Society, New York. (The latter commissioned a unique presentation lasercut for its exclusive use.)

Granot has a M.Phil in Russian Studies from the University of Glasgow, Scotland and a B.A. in Political Science and Russian Studies from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

Granot's Judaica Ketuba papercut art can be viewed in the public collections of Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel Bet Torah, Mount Kisco, New York, USA Cartiere Miliani Fabriano spa, Fabriano, Italy Congregation Beth Jacob, Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Congregation B'nai Torah, Atlanta, Georgia, USA and the Congregation Shaarai Shomayim in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. Papercuts can also be viewed at Cantor Jacob and Dr. Belle Rosenbaum Mezuzah Collection, Great Synagogue, Jerusalem, Israel Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel Jewish Museum, New York, New York, USA Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, USA Museum der Scherenschnitte, Vreden, Germany Philadelphia Museum of Judaica, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Presidents' Residence, Jerusalem, Israel Rubenovitz Museum, Congregation Mishkan Tefila, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA Sir Isaac and Lady Wolfson Museum, Heichal Shlomo, Jerusalem, Israel Victoria and Albert Museum London, England and the Yeshivah University Museum, New York, USA.

Granot has taken part in individual collections in 1985 at Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. In 1988-9 Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, Braunschweig, Germany. In 1989 at the Ariel Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel, 1989 Kuzari Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel 1991 Yeshiva University Museum, New York, New York, USA 1992 Philadelphia Museum of Judaica at Congregation Rodeph Shalom, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 1992 Elisabeth S. Fine Museum of Judaica at Congregation Emanu-El, San Francisco, California, USA 1996. His Judaica ketubah papercut art can also be viewed at collections of the UJA-Federation, New York, USA 1997, Koslowe Gallery, Westchester Jewish Center, Mamaroneck, New York, USA 1997 Temple Beth Shalom, Roslyn Heights, New York, USA 1997 Rubenovitz Museum, Congregation Mishkan Tefila, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA 1998 May Museum of Temple Israel, Lawrence, New York, USA 2000 Art Effects Gallery, Merion, Pennsylvania, USA 2001 Appel Art Gallery, Katz JCC, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA 2002 The Heritage Museum of Temple Emmanu-El, Closter, New Jersey, USA 2005 (planned) and The Aesthetic Sense, Mt Kisco in New York.

Additional exhibitions where Granot's Judaica papercut art can be appreciated are at the 1987 Museum of Music and Ethnology, Haifa, Israel 1989 Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel 1990 Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes, California, USA 1991 Mizel Museum of Judaica, Denver, Colorado, USA 1991-2 Paine Art Center, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA 1992 and the Hirsh Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA. The San Francisco Craft and Art Museum, San Francisco, California, USA, 1994 JCC Goldman Gallery, Rockville, Maryland, USA 1994 National Museum of Japan, Kyoto, Japan 1994 Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan 1994 also display Granot's Judaica Katuba paper cut art.

The Jewish Museum of New York displays his papercut art in addition to the 1995 Starr Gallery, Newton Centre, Massachusetts, USA, 1996 B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, Washington, DC, USA 1996 Visual Arts Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA 1997 University Museum of Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Illinois, USA 1997 B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, Washington, D C , USA 1998 William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, Atlanta, Georgia, USA 2002 and the Kansas Jewish Museum, Overland Park, Kansas, USA.

Paper cutting is believed to have originated in ancient China, possibly at the time that paper was invented in the second century, and spread from there to Turkey, North Africa, Persia and eastern and central Europe. The Jewish Papercut may date back to the 14th century when Rabbi Shem-Tov ben Yitzhak ben Ardutiel wrote "The War of the Pen Against the Scissors" in letters cut from paper because his ink froze on a cold winter night. Although there is some uncertainty regarding the history of Jewish paper cutting, it is believed that Jews were familiar with the art for some time because of the travels of Jewish merchants and the close ties between Jews and the Ottoman sultans. The papercut became an important Jewish folk art during the 17th - 19th centuries , especially in countries where it was practiced by the general population. Requiring only simple and readily available tools - paper, pencil and knife - paper cutting was available to all, even the poor. Few of the early paper cuts survived, however, because their construction was fragile (acid-free materials did not exist) and their purpose was usually short-lived. Used to fulfill hiddur mitzvah (embellishing the commandments in an aesthetic way), a papercut was hung on the walls of homes and synagogues and served a range of spiritual and ritual purposes in the Jewish calendar and life cycle.

Papercuts were hung on eastern walls to indicate the direction of prayer (Ashkenazi paper cuts often had the word mizrach at the center while Sephardic paper cuts often had the word shiviti at the center); they were used as holiday decorations (ushpizin to decorate the succah, shavuoslekh for Shavuot, flags for Simchat Torah) and as amulets to ward off the evil eye (shir hamalosl, menorah); they were created to commemorate deaths in the family (yarzeit) and as calendars for counting the omer. They were also used to decorate wedding ketubahs. The Jewish art papercut was traditionally made by folding a sheet of paper in half, drawing one half of the design starting at the fold and cutting with a sharp knife to produce a symmetrical design upon opening the folded sheet. These paper cuts featured many traditional Jewish symbols including birds, lions, gazelles and other animals, menorahs, stars of David, tablets of the Law, columns to commemorate the Temple and floral decorations that can be found on other Jewish ceremonial and ritual objects.

Furthermore, calligraphic inscriptions were often used to supplement the imagery. Unlike other papercuts that were common in the general population, the Jewish papercut did not feature human subjects or depict daily life. Unfortunately, however, during the first half of the 20th century this tradition almost disappeared because its practitioners either emigrated or, tragically, perished in the Holocaust. During the last forty years, however, the art of paper cutting as a means of Jewish expression has been revived, both in the conventional form of folding paper to create a symmetrical work and by cutting freely.

Granot intends to donate many of his award winning Judaica katubah papercut art to hospitals in Israel where children are recovering from terror attacks.

"If my Judaica papercut art with its rainbow of colors can warm up and provide some cheer to these suffering Jewish children, then this would be my greatest satisfaction."