The Canaanites Group – the roots of the past grow buds of present
The group was influence by Yitzhak Denzinger who opened a sculpture studio in Tel Aviv, to which arrived Koso Elul, Binyamin Tamuz, and Mordechai Gompel.
The Canaanites Group – the roots of the past grow buds of present
Is it possible that Abraham Shlonski was joking when he called a group of enthusiastic young people – Canaanites? Some claim that was ironic, but that movement surly wasn’t quiet from the moment it was founded in 1939.
The group, in its original name “The Assembly to Form the Hebrew Youth”, managed its activity on a basis of ideology and culture. Its members, the young Hebrews, wanted to connect between the people who lived in the country two thousand years BC, and the Hebrew people who live on their land in their time. Their idea was based on the need to create a new culture that its roots are grounded in the history of the country’s land in order to cut the umbilical cord of the Hebrew people from the Jewish tradition with the exile-oriented motives. It is probably for a reason that shlonski saw in his mind the ancient Canaanite tribes. The movement created significant waves in art, literature and philosophy in the country.
The art of the Canaanites group
The Canaanites art was influenced by the creations of the Fertile Crescent which were considered among the most ancient antiquities in the world, apart from those found in Africa. It was characterized with the use of various archaic forms. The primitive art draw the attention of the group members and the focus of this appeal was sculpture as was seen in Europe at the time. Among the best artists in the field were Zeev Raban and Efriem Moshe Lilein, who were teachers in Bezalel (the first art school in the country), and created combinations between the Oriental East the European Art Nouveau. One of the prominent examples to this kind of sculpture was “The Roaring Lion”, Abraham Malnikno’s creation. This impressive master piece can be clearly linked to the style of Mesopotamia.
A conflict between the Hebrew man and the Jewish man
The group was influence by Yitzhak Denzinger who opened a sculpture studio in Tel Aviv, to which arrived Koso Elul, Binyamin Tamuz, and Mordechai Gompel. Young sculptors studied in the studio and they were joined by others. The place served as an important meeting point in which Denzinger created his creation “Nimrod” in 1939 and “Shbezia” in the same year. Those creations were a significant landmark in his artistic path. By the way, “Nimrod” wasn’t found proper by religious circles in the Jewish settlement due to the visible Paganism in it, but others saw the creator of this piece as an example to the Hebrew man who carries the torch of the country roots.
While the sculpture was presented in the general exhibition of the Israeli artists in “Habima”, Tel Aviv, many conflicts emerged in social meetings regarding “Nimrod” and the general activity of the Canaanites group. The sculpture was the center of a significant conflict between two parties: the secular culture and religious figures. Eventually, the sculpture led many artists to adopt the primitive style.
It is clear the Canaanite group influenced not just the artistic aspect in the country, but also left its mark on the culture and philosophy fields. The Canaanites group included also the writers Binyamin Tamuz, Amos Keinan and Aharon Amir, and also the linguistic researchers Uzi Ornan, Eliyahu Megido and others.