Ein Hod – The artists’ colony

On the road to Haifa lies Ein Hod, an artists’ village on a hill, at the foot of Mount Carmel overlooking the Mediterranean coast, the town of Atlit, and an ancient 12th century crusader fortress.

Ein Hod is a communal settlement in northern Israel, On the road to Haifa that became an artists’ colony. Located south of Mount Carmel and southeast of Haifa in northern Israel, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council. In with a population of of around 500 people. The village is set on the foot of Mount Carmel overlooking the Mediterranean coast, the town of Atlit, and an ancient 12th century crusader fortress

The Ein Hod residents are engaged in all areas of art from visual arts, painting, pottery and jewelry-making, to literature and theater. They support themselves with their art, their galleries and by running workshops and educational activities. Most of the studios are open to the public, and visitors are welcome to observe the artists, their materials and methods, and to hear from them about their work and their life in the village.

The main attraction in the village is the Janco-Dada Museum with its changing exhibits and collection of works by Janco, one of the founders of the Dada movement. An amphitheater was also built to host various events and performances.

The village is situated on a hillside amidst olive groves, with a view of the Mediterranean Sea and a twelfth-century Crusader fortress.

Excavations in the Carmel region indicate that human settlement in the area dates back over 150,000 years.

Artists’ colony

Ein Hod became an artists’ colony in 1953. The driving spirit behind the project was Marcel Janco, an acclaimed Dada artist, who kept the village from being demolished by the security forces and convinced the government to let him build an artists’ colony there. Janco, born in Bucharest, Romania, was one of the founders of the Dada movement, established in 1916 at Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, Switzerland, by a group of exiled poets, painters and philosophers who were opposed to war, aggression and the changing world culture. In 1922, Janco returned to Romania, where he gained fame as a painter and architect. In 1941, fleeing the Nazis, he moved to Palestine, and was one of the founders of the New Horizons Group (1948). He was awarded the Israel Prize in 1967. The Janco-Dada Museum, which opened in 1983, features Janco’s work and explores the history of the Dada movement.

Culture

Apart from art galleries, museums and studios, the Gertrud Kraus House sponsors biweekly chamber music concerts and guest lectures. During the summer months, performances of popular music and light entertainment take place in an outdoor amphitheatre. Throughout the year, free outdoor jazz concerts are held on Saturdays near the village’s central square.

The Nisco Museum of Mechanical Music in Ein Hod is the first museum in Israel dedicated to antique mechanical instruments. The collection, accumulated over 40 years by Nisan Cohen, contains music boxes, hurdy gurdies, an automatic organ, a reproducing player piano, a collection of 100 year-old manivelles, gramophones, hand-operated automatic pianos and other instruments.

Israel Prize winners

Ten Ein Hod residents have won the Israel Prize, awarded annually on Israel Independence Day. According to Robert Nechin, who lives in the village, the artists working there today “are fully aware of the illustrious example of these great artists and scholars, who lived and are still living among them.[8] Ein Hod residents who have won the prize are:

* Zahara Schatz, painting and sculpture (1955)
* Marcel Janco, for painting (1967)
* Gertrud Kraus for dance (1968)
* Simon Halkin, for literature (1975)
* Haim Hefer, for Hebrew songwriting (1983)
* Natan Zach, for poetry (1995)
* Aryeh Navon, for theater scenery and art (1996)
* Michael Gross, for painting and sculpture (2000)
* Gavri Banai, for his special contribution to Israeli culture as a member of the HaGashash HaHiver comedy trio (2000)
* Gila Almagor, for acting (2004)