Downtowners - Solo Exhibition
Year: 2015 | Haifa History Museum.
Curator Inbar Dror Lax
Eid al-Adha
These photographs follow a group of boys from WadiNisnas – 'Amran, , Anan, Diaa, Adham, Alaa, Bahaa , and others – as they move among different locations during Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), one of the two most important Muslim holidays. The encounter begins in their neighborhood, and follows them as they attend prayers at al-Istiqlal Mosque on Kibbutz Galuyot Street. Following the prayer, it is a custom for unmarried boys to volunteer in the community. The group thus moves on to al-Haj Mosque on Usefiye Street in the Halisa neighborhood for the holiday's main event: the slaughtering of animals and the division of the meat among needy families. This event is sponsored by the Flower of Carmel Haifa Foundation, where many city residents and businessmen volunteer.
Al-Istiqlal Mosque
This mosque, whose name means "independence" in Arabic, was built during the 1920s, in the late Ottoman period, and is considered to be the largest and most active mosque in the Haifa area. It is also home to the Sharia tribunal and the Waqf administration, which services Muslims in Haifa and its environs.
Running a Red Light
Gabi (Gabriel) Toledano is the owner of a small kiosk on Ha'atzmaut Street in the downtown area. Gabi, who was born in Meknes, Morocco, immigrated to the country in 1956 and settled on Kibbutz Yifat in the Jezreel Valley. He later worked as a shepherd when members of his kibbutz moved to join Kibbutz Gezer, in the vicinity of Ramla, Gabi later joined the Israeli merchant marine and worked on luxury cruise lines throughout the world. Following the Six Day War (1967), he began working at the Pundak restaurant, and acquired the adjacent kiosk in 1975. For the past 30 years, he has been coming there daily in the morning and raising the metal shutter to sell sandwiches, cigarettes, ice-cream and soft drinks, and stare at the passersby until the afternoon. He then shutters the kiosk, to which he does not return until the following morning.
The Feast of the Annunciation
These photographs document the Mass marking the Feast of the Annunciation in the al-Mahatta (Station) neighborhood, also known as the Carmel Station. The Feast of the Annunciation takes place on March 25. The Mass documented in this series was conducted by Archim. Agapios Abu Saada – the priest of Haifa's Catholic community.
Church of St. Gabriel
This church was built in the late 1920s with funds donated by Gabriel Fouad Asad, a prominent member of the local Catholic community. A school founded in the vicinity of the church served the city's Christian community under the British Mandate. From 1948 onwards, the building was neglected for several decades. In recent years, numerous donations have been made to restore it. A number of volunteers and donors, including Kamil Shahda and Nabil Abud, overseen by the Greek Catholic Eparchy, have supervised a comprehensive renovation of the church, following the collapse of its ceiling and tile roof. The liturgical items currently in the church were donated by other churches in the city. The altar, for instance, was donated by the Mar Elias Church on Ein Dor Street. At present, Russian Catholics residing in Haifa also worship at the Church of St. Gabriel.