Farewell to Tawfiq Salsaa
By : Garth Hewitt.
For Reference: Go to this LINK
Tawfiq Salsaa, master carver of wood from Beit Sahour, Bethlehem, Palestine passed away on Friday 10th August from lung cancer.
Amos Trust knew him very well because he was the father of Wisam, our regular tour guide in the Holy Land.
A few hours before Tawfiq died his third grandchild, Daniel, was born to Wisam and Rasha.
Amos groups were regularly hosted at the home of Tawfiq and Ayda, which was always a highlight. These visits always included a look round Tawfiq's workshop.
In 2007 Tawfiq carved the walled nativity, which had the separation wall dividing the wise men from the Holy Family. He said that he was inspired to produce his first model with a political meaning after half a century of carving: "I was thinking about our problems and I thought if Jesus was to come here today he would find a wall, then I started working on it - that's how it came to express our situation."
When under curfew in Beit Sahour Tawfiq, cut off from Jerusalem - which he had not visited for many years - carved a model of the Old City of Jerusalem from memory. Later this remarkable model was seen by Banksy who added some pieces to it and it then appeared in his exhibition at Bristol Museum in 2009.
It was described as "the final gem of the exhibition". Tawfiq and the family were present at the opening of the exhibition in Bristol and it was a very proud moment.
For many years Amos Trust had been distributing the olive wood at Christmas time carved by Tawfiq and his small band of workers. We also distributed the wooden hand crosses he made, which together with the walled nativity were regularly available at the Greenbelt Festival.
Our prayers and thoughts are with Tawfiq's wife, Ayda, with Wisam, his brothers and all the family and especially for Rasha and Wisam with their new baby Daniel and for sisters Leah and Sara - it is a time for very mixed emotions for the family.
Garth says, 'It was a special friendship with Tawfiq - we didn't speak each other's languages but we often sat in comfortable silence together enjoying each other's company. He was a man who saw so much in his life as gradually they were cut off more and more in the Beit Sahour and Bethlehem area by occupation and then by the wall. I am grateful to Wisam who invited us to meet his family and spend time with his father - a warm, gentle, creative man rooted in the land of Palestine.
An article in the Independent about Tawfiq at the time of the release of the Walled Nativity and with news of Banksy adapting his carving of Jerusalem.
And also a link to a talk that Garth Hewitt did at Greenbelt Festival 2008 called 'The strange but true story of Tawfiq Salsaa's walled Nativity'
Amos Trust knew him very well because he was the father of Wisam, our regular tour guide in the Holy Land.
A few hours before Tawfiq died his third grandchild, Daniel, was born to Wisam and Rasha.
Amos groups were regularly hosted at the home of Tawfiq and Ayda, which was always a highlight. These visits always included a look round Tawfiq's workshop.
In 2007 Tawfiq carved the walled nativity, which had the separation wall dividing the wise men from the Holy Family. He said that he was inspired to produce his first model with a political meaning after half a century of carving: "I was thinking about our problems and I thought if Jesus was to come here today he would find a wall, then I started working on it - that's how it came to express our situation."
When under curfew in Beit Sahour Tawfiq, cut off from Jerusalem - which he had not visited for many years - carved a model of the Old City of Jerusalem from memory. Later this remarkable model was seen by Banksy who added some pieces to it and it then appeared in his exhibition at Bristol Museum in 2009.
It was described as "the final gem of the exhibition". Tawfiq and the family were present at the opening of the exhibition in Bristol and it was a very proud moment.
For many years Amos Trust had been distributing the olive wood at Christmas time carved by Tawfiq and his small band of workers. We also distributed the wooden hand crosses he made, which together with the walled nativity were regularly available at the Greenbelt Festival.
Our prayers and thoughts are with Tawfiq's wife, Ayda, with Wisam, his brothers and all the family and especially for Rasha and Wisam with their new baby Daniel and for sisters Leah and Sara - it is a time for very mixed emotions for the family.
Garth says, 'It was a special friendship with Tawfiq - we didn't speak each other's languages but we often sat in comfortable silence together enjoying each other's company. He was a man who saw so much in his life as gradually they were cut off more and more in the Beit Sahour and Bethlehem area by occupation and then by the wall. I am grateful to Wisam who invited us to meet his family and spend time with his father - a warm, gentle, creative man rooted in the land of Palestine.
An article in the Independent about Tawfiq at the time of the release of the Walled Nativity and with news of Banksy adapting his carving of Jerusalem.
And also a link to a talk that Garth Hewitt did at Greenbelt Festival 2008 called 'The strange but true story of Tawfiq Salsaa's walled Nativity'
Tawfiq Salsa's work in new Banksy show
Tawfiq Salsa is a Palestinian artist and craftsman from Beit Sahour, Bethlehem who works carving olivewood, some of which we sell here at Amos.
In 2007 as an act of quiet resistance, he made a ‘walled nativity set’ - a nativity scene where the wall stopped the wise men from getting through to the Holy Family. Tawfiq said “I made these sets as a protest at what is happening to the local community of Bethlehem and Beit Sahour”.
Beit Sahour (the Shepherds Fields) - is in the Bethlehem area, where 87% of the land has been taken by the Israelis. They are surrounded by the wall and their freedom of movement is denied.
Now another work of his comes into the limelight. Tawfiq was under curfew by the Israeli army for six months of 2002. During this time he put his skill to good use and built a model of the Old City of Jerusalem. He made his olive wood Jerusalem completely from memory. It reflected his quiet resistance to occupation and curfew and to the brutal oppression of his people. This remarkable achievement filled one of the rooms of his house and for some years he was uncertain what to do with it.
However this work it came to the attention of graffiti artist Banksy, who saw the beauty and strength of this model of Jerusalem. The model is now it is in Banksy's new exhibition in Bristol, Banksy v the Bristol Museum. Banksy has added watchtowers and soldiers to the original model
Tawfiq Salsaa was at the opening night of the exhibition and was reunited with his model. He said he was astonished to see it in such a place; “It looks much nicer than I remembered! I like the idea of putting watchtowers and soldiers - it brings it to life - it’s as if Jerusalem is under curfew.” It is a very timely work as many of the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are currently being evicted from their homes. The exhibition Banksy v Bristol Museum is on until 31st August. Admission is free. Open Daily 10am - 5pm
LINK : Banksy v Bristol Museum
At Greenbelt 2008 Garth Hewitt gave a talk entitled ‘The strange but true story of Tawfiq Salsaa's Walled Nativity”. You can download the talk here:
Go to this LINK
In 2007 as an act of quiet resistance, he made a ‘walled nativity set’ - a nativity scene where the wall stopped the wise men from getting through to the Holy Family. Tawfiq said “I made these sets as a protest at what is happening to the local community of Bethlehem and Beit Sahour”.
Beit Sahour (the Shepherds Fields) - is in the Bethlehem area, where 87% of the land has been taken by the Israelis. They are surrounded by the wall and their freedom of movement is denied.
Now another work of his comes into the limelight. Tawfiq was under curfew by the Israeli army for six months of 2002. During this time he put his skill to good use and built a model of the Old City of Jerusalem. He made his olive wood Jerusalem completely from memory. It reflected his quiet resistance to occupation and curfew and to the brutal oppression of his people. This remarkable achievement filled one of the rooms of his house and for some years he was uncertain what to do with it.
However this work it came to the attention of graffiti artist Banksy, who saw the beauty and strength of this model of Jerusalem. The model is now it is in Banksy's new exhibition in Bristol, Banksy v the Bristol Museum. Banksy has added watchtowers and soldiers to the original model
Tawfiq Salsaa was at the opening night of the exhibition and was reunited with his model. He said he was astonished to see it in such a place; “It looks much nicer than I remembered! I like the idea of putting watchtowers and soldiers - it brings it to life - it’s as if Jerusalem is under curfew.” It is a very timely work as many of the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are currently being evicted from their homes. The exhibition Banksy v Bristol Museum is on until 31st August. Admission is free. Open Daily 10am - 5pm
LINK : Banksy v Bristol Museum
At Greenbelt 2008 Garth Hewitt gave a talk entitled ‘The strange but true story of Tawfiq Salsaa's Walled Nativity”. You can download the talk here:
Go to this LINK
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Banksy in Bristol Review
By Minuteman Press
For many years, Banksy (or Robin to friends) was the scourge of Bristol and in particular Bristol City Council. Banksy’s stencil artwork caused much debate, some Bristolians appreciated Banksy’s work and were eager for their properties to be adorned with a Banksy original, but other Bristol residents were less enthusiastic, and annoyed at the abuse of their property.
In 2009, Banksy gave Bristol an exhibition by way of a thank-you for his roots, ideas, beliefs, attitude and paint supplies.
Following a conformist queue, the Banksy exhibition visitor was faced first with a Glastonbury festival toilet cubicle reconstruction of Stonehenge. Every detail was meticulous. Entering the first hall of Bristol Museum, a torched ice-cream van appeared. The sights and sounds were remarkable, every sense was exploited.
A series of famous statues, including the Angel of the North and Michelangelo’s David, were shown with various twists. Further displays included a lion who had consumed his trainer and a Metropolitan Police officer getting nowhere fast on an automated rocking horse.
Moving to the second large hall, a display of ‘Unnatural History’ was revealed including grazing chicken nuggets, a Banksy swimming fish finger and Tweety Pie with an attitude. The experience was made all the more convincing by the effective use of light and sound.
The Bristol Museum temporary display gallery had been adorned with Banksy artworks, some old and some new… showing images as you would not expect.
Exhibits and displays on other floors in the museum had also been enhanced. Banksy had introduced the War of the Worlds to one master, added a penis to the museum’s stalactite collection and a stuffed muzzled lamb to the natural history display. The dinosaur vomit could have been real!
The Bristol Museum upper galleries had become a treasure hunt for Banksy enthusiasts. Some hunters stopping to look at the other work from the permanent collection, others racing by and seeing the world through a view finder. Banksy had pulled the crowds into Bristol Museum, but it is a shame that so much else that Bristol museum had to offer was ignored by many.
The final gem was ‘Jerusalem’ by Tawfiq Salsaa. A scale model of Jerusalem carved from olive wood, purchased by Banksy and value added with the addition of soldiers and a lonely terrorist.
The Bristol Museum exhibition staff had embraced the role of authority figures that Banksy had highlighted the shortcomings in for so long, being keen to stop the queue inexplicably, tell off visitors if they looked too closely at an exhibit, used flash photography (despite a complete absence of signage to that effect) and had loud conversations on intercoms with volumes set at an excessive level – well, I suppose it kept them off the streets. Or perhaps the over enthusiastic Bristol museum staff were part of the exhibition!
The Banksy exhibition was fantastic, although in several instances quality control had lapsed in favour of a weak joke.
The exhibition entitled ‘Banksy Versus Bristol Museum’ ran until August 2009. Bristol Museum is located on Queens Road BS8 1RL.
“He’s like Batman only better” A Bristol resident.
Go to this LINK
For many years, Banksy (or Robin to friends) was the scourge of Bristol and in particular Bristol City Council. Banksy’s stencil artwork caused much debate, some Bristolians appreciated Banksy’s work and were eager for their properties to be adorned with a Banksy original, but other Bristol residents were less enthusiastic, and annoyed at the abuse of their property.
In 2009, Banksy gave Bristol an exhibition by way of a thank-you for his roots, ideas, beliefs, attitude and paint supplies.
Following a conformist queue, the Banksy exhibition visitor was faced first with a Glastonbury festival toilet cubicle reconstruction of Stonehenge. Every detail was meticulous. Entering the first hall of Bristol Museum, a torched ice-cream van appeared. The sights and sounds were remarkable, every sense was exploited.
A series of famous statues, including the Angel of the North and Michelangelo’s David, were shown with various twists. Further displays included a lion who had consumed his trainer and a Metropolitan Police officer getting nowhere fast on an automated rocking horse.
Moving to the second large hall, a display of ‘Unnatural History’ was revealed including grazing chicken nuggets, a Banksy swimming fish finger and Tweety Pie with an attitude. The experience was made all the more convincing by the effective use of light and sound.
The Bristol Museum temporary display gallery had been adorned with Banksy artworks, some old and some new… showing images as you would not expect.
Exhibits and displays on other floors in the museum had also been enhanced. Banksy had introduced the War of the Worlds to one master, added a penis to the museum’s stalactite collection and a stuffed muzzled lamb to the natural history display. The dinosaur vomit could have been real!
The Bristol Museum upper galleries had become a treasure hunt for Banksy enthusiasts. Some hunters stopping to look at the other work from the permanent collection, others racing by and seeing the world through a view finder. Banksy had pulled the crowds into Bristol Museum, but it is a shame that so much else that Bristol museum had to offer was ignored by many.
The final gem was ‘Jerusalem’ by Tawfiq Salsaa. A scale model of Jerusalem carved from olive wood, purchased by Banksy and value added with the addition of soldiers and a lonely terrorist.
The Bristol Museum exhibition staff had embraced the role of authority figures that Banksy had highlighted the shortcomings in for so long, being keen to stop the queue inexplicably, tell off visitors if they looked too closely at an exhibit, used flash photography (despite a complete absence of signage to that effect) and had loud conversations on intercoms with volumes set at an excessive level – well, I suppose it kept them off the streets. Or perhaps the over enthusiastic Bristol museum staff were part of the exhibition!
The Banksy exhibition was fantastic, although in several instances quality control had lapsed in favour of a weak joke.
The exhibition entitled ‘Banksy Versus Bristol Museum’ ran until August 2009. Bristol Museum is located on Queens Road BS8 1RL.
“He’s like Batman only better” A Bristol resident.
Go to this LINK