The brothers Salah and Salman Alkara began working in the studio of Itche Mambush in Ein Hod (called Ein Hud before) at the age of 13 and 18 from 1965 for 20 years. Over the years they made tens of ceramic wall murals in the studio of Itche Mambush, mainly for Israeli artists for public institutions. Each mural was unique. Salah and Salman specialized in making the raw materials for the different murals, copying the models and drawings and enlarging them precisely to very large scales as required, developing colors and glazes according to the requirements of the artists. Often the special requirements demanded that they broaden their knowledge of glaze development making many experiments and getting advice from the ceramic engineer at Kernat – Arie Wartash.
The brothers Alkara prepared the clay from Motza, the clay from the hills of Jerusalem. Additional raw materials and grog they bought from the Naaman factory in the Krayot.
Most of the murals were glazed relief tiles (like the Marcel Janko mural in the Ziv hospital in Tzfat), or commercial tiles that were glazed with glazes made in the studio (like the Dani Karavan mural in Kfar Tikva, Kiryat Tivon). These tiles were made by Negev Ceramics in Yerucham. Work on the murals was done with the artists both sculpting the relief and selecting the glazes.
Executing the murals was done from 2 dimensional sketches or 3 dimensional models that were taken from the artists once the project was completed.
Salah and Salman said that Itche was an excellent potter and most of the time he focused on wheel throwing. Aviva Margalit Mambush, Itche’s partner, painted on the plates and clay slabs. Itche supervised the process of making the murals together with the artists until their final approval. Working on ceramic wall murals was abandoned with the cancellation of the law to promote art in the public space.
