The cityscape is an age-old subject matter in Western art, going back to the murals of ancient Rome. In Israeli art as well, many artists and photographers have depicted and documented their urban surroundings. Despite the seemingly limited capacity of artistic images to serve as valid documentations of the physical environment, many exhibitions over the last decades have chosen to address various interpretations of the local landscape. This point of view serves as a valuable tool for understanding the transformations that have taken place in the urban space in relation to cultural, political and social changes.
The exhibition "Cityscape" presents a range of depictions of Haifa from different periods and points of view. It includes several interpretations of cityscapes by researchers and cultural producers from various fields and disciplines. Through these interpretations, the exhibition informs the comprehension of urban landscapes and raises questions about the role of Haifa Museums' collection in preserving the local culture.
Between the 17th and 19th century, the many pilgrims visiting Palestine have documented the area in prints, engravings, and paintings. The pious pilgrims' descriptions of this land, including the Haifa region, are characterized by a biblical tone that freely blends reality and imagination. In the beginning of the 19th century, researchers have started frequenting the area, conducting geographic and archeological mappings. This century also marked the golden age of the illustrated travel literature describing the Holy Land. Although these descriptions tended to be more realistic, they were nevertheless characterized by romantic idealization. The tombs of Prophets Elijah and Elisha and the sanctification of Mount Carmel brought many secluded monks to dwell in the mountain caves. The first sources of literature regarding the Templar settlement in the German Colony can also be traced to the same period.
The prints presented in the exhibition register a variety of artistic points of view on the Haifa area - looking down on the area from the mountain top, observing it from the sea, and even surveying it from the neighboring city of Acre. These landscape depictions feature the bay, the mountain and the sea - the three features that made Haifa unique and desired. The city has special characters not only in terms of landscape and topography, but also in terms of religious sites: the Carmelite monastery, Elijah's cave, and the Shrine of the Báb (the Bahá'í gardens). Haifa was also known for its port and the Hijazi railway, which transformed the city into an important junction and an entering gate for new immigrants. The same distinct topographic elements, however, challenged all attempts at city planning, resulting in Haifa's division into separate neighborhoods, each one very different from the other.
At the beginning of the 20th century a new school of painting developed in the area, demonstrating a naïve approach influenced by European art. A new aspiration to revive the historical Hebrew tradition and to represent the Zionistic vision has lead to pathetic and idealized landscape depictions. As is evident from the postcards produced after Israel's declaration of independence, the city was described at its most glorious beauty, with much attention given to its landscapes and the dome of the Shrine of the Báb (which resembles the dome of the rock), but also to its modern side as an industrial city, which hosts the Dagon building and the port. Over the years, the prints, paintings and postcards depicting the distinct features of Haifa became signs of great achievement in the marketing of the Zionist agenda around the world.
This exhibition offers a variety of images of Haifa, thereby giving the viewer a taste of Haifa's numerous representations over the years. It also provides a critical stance, highlighting the importance of investigating consciousness design when dealing with the city's past and present essence. It teaches us how the space around us affects our lives and helps shape our identity, and calls our attention to the gap that exists between the point of view of the insider or local resident and the standpoint of the newly arrived.