Morocco: Jews and Art in a Muslim Land [Hardcover]

Vivian B. Mann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000

Explores the conundrum of Jewish Moroccan identity, from the earliest times to the present day.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This volume opens with a discussion of the history of Morocco's Jewish communities, followed by fascinating reminiscences from two Moroccan Jews. An informative and important chapter on "The Kabbalah in Morocco" is included, and Mann, the organizer of the show for which this volume serves as catalog, contributes an illuminating chapter titled "Memory, Mimesis, Realia." The book's diverse texts, which intermingle thoughts on the customs of Morocco's Jews and the works created by the country's Jewish artists and artisans, precede a full descriptive catalog that includes beautiful, detailed photographs and informative entries on textiles, jewelry, ceramics, and much more. The essays make this volume a crucial component of the show as well as its faithful record. For all art libraries as well as collections in Jewish and Islamic culture. Martin Chasin, Adult Inst., Bridgeport, CT
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

The richness and complexity of Jewish culture in Morocco, and the country’s unique intermingling of Jewish and Muslim traditions, have for centuries ensured an extraordinarily creative diversity. The result of this harmony between communities was cultural symbiosis, unbroken until the late twentieth century. The varied art and culture of Moroccan Jewry is seen in this exquisite volume through several lenses: the works of Oriental artists, such as Delacroix, who made the Jews the subjects of their paintings; the intricate jewelry, metalwork, gold thread, and cloth created by the Jews themselves; and Jewish spiritual culture, as manifest in synagogues, in folklore and mysticism, and in pilgrimages to holy sites, many of which were shared with Muslim neighbors.

Contributions to Morocco: Jews and Art in a Muslim Land range from discussions of Moroccan Jewish history and spirituality to intensely personal accounts of Jewish–Muslim relations in the twentieth century. The mystical experiences of medieval kabbalists sit side by side with childhood memories of the schism in Moroccan society caused by the mass emigration of Jews to Israel after World War II. Collective and personal histories collide, illuminating one another in often unexpected ways, and offering new insights into the nature of this most intriguing outpost of the Diaspora: a rich blend of Spanish, Arabic, and traditional Jewish influences.

Along with these new and unique perspectives, this fascinating volume contains sumptuous color photography of the artifacts – ceramics, textiles, jewelry – that Jews in Morocco made, and that to a certain extent defined their daily lives. Morocco: Jews and Art in a Muslim Land sheds new light on the conundrum of Moroccan Jewish identity, from earliest times to the present day.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Merrell; 1st Edition. edition (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1858941105
• ISBN-13: 978-1858941103
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,191,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars Vanished Forever, March 13, 2007

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This review is from: Morocco: Jews and Art in a Muslim Land (Hardcover)

Beautifully produced, absorbing and moving documentation of a distinctive subgroup of Moroccan society that has now vanished forever from that country. Magnificent photographs. An illumination for those who are are unaware of this rich chapter in Jewish history.