Avi Sabag
Curator: Irena Gordon

 

The exhibition "Napoleon 12a" by Avi Sabag presents a contemporary view of the “Napoleon Crossing” in Akko in the 1960s. As someone who immigrated to Israel from Morocco and grew up in the “Napoleon Crossing”, then a low-income neighbourhood and today an upscale neighbourhood, Avi Sabag creates a new space that brings together past and present. The exhibition intertwines archival materials of personal memories, documents, photographs, and voices of the residents themselves with investigations of the crossing, which was one of the last ones to be closed.

 

Dr. Avraham (Avi) Eilam-Amzallag (1941) is an Israeli composer, conductor, musicologist, and flutist. He is a founding member of the "Mishmar" band and the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra. He was born in Casablanca, Morocco, and educated in France and Israel. Upon his arrival in Israel in the 1950s, he studied at the "Aliyah Institution" in Petah Tikva. Due to his passion for Andalusian music, he wrote his doctoral thesis on "Melodic Perception in the Song of Moroccan Jews". The songs his father sang to him in his childhood are a source of inspiration for his compositions.

"Taqsim for Flute" (1968)

Taqsim (تقسيم) is an instrumental solo in the Arabic tradition. The composition combines Andalusian music with Western influences. It uses the Western serial composition technique while maintaining the characteristics of Eastern music based on the Eastern maqam. The "Taqsim for Flute" creates a dialogue between East and West, old and new, in a subtle way, similar to Avi Sabag and the “Napoleon Crossing” exhibition.

​

​

Photos: Elad Sarig, Petach-Tikva Museum of Art