Itche Mambush (1920 – 2015) and Aviva Margalit Mambush (1919 – 2004)
In 1957 after 4 years of study in Paris, Itche Mambush and his wife Aviva Margalit Mambush joined Marcel Janko (1895 – 1984) in Ein Hod and they established a ceramics studio in the artist village. Itche Mambush had excellent skills and with the vision of Janko he established a workshop to execute ceramic projects focusing on ceramic tiles and hosting a variety of artists that were active at the time including: Yehezkiel Streichman, Aharon Kahana (afterward he executed his own projects and for others in his studio in Beit Hayotzer), Louise Schatz, Bezalel Schatz, Jean David and Genia Berger and other artists.
The studio of Itche and Aviva Margalit produced work in different fields including carpet weaving, engraving and ceramics. Recently an exhibition was held at the Herzliya museum showing the extensive production of woven carpets made in the studio. Most of the ceramic wall murals were made by Salah and Salman Alkara in the studio according to models or drawings made by different artists and supervised by Mambush. Most of the walls were relief made specially for the artists (like the mural in the lobby of the Ziv Hospital in Tzfat) and sometimes they were painted with glazes on commercial tiles (like the mural by Dani Karavan at Kfar Tikva in Kiryat Tivon or at Abarbanel Mental Health Center in Bat Yam).
Over the years, tens of ceramic wall murals for public buildings and projects of private developers were created in the studio of Itche Mambush and Aviva Margalit Mambush. The Mambush studio highlights the question of the relationship between maker and artist especially in ceramic projects where the maker has a lot of influence on the language and material character in the final result. For instance, the color palette and glazes, the firing temperature and the work method will influence the appearance of the mural. In the case of making ceramic wall murals the studio has a very big influence on the outcome.
In the years that the studio was active until it closed in the 80’s of the previous century many wall murals were made influencing architectural spaces in public areas. The advantage of this art form was ingrained in the art-culture of that period, the years of creating the culture and as part of government and municipal policy to invest in local creativity. The change in policy strangled this culture and the public space is rarely a stage for artwork and expression.
