Tel-Hai Magazine 2022

1949, to a European mother and to a father of Lebanese origin, who convert ed to Islam, and whom she never met. Her mother took her to Israel, where she had difficulty looking after her alone, and, from the age of three, Laila spent many years moving from one foster fam ily to another. When she was twelve years old, she was transferred to a Shomer Ha Tzair kibbutz, Beit Zera, where she re members the fragrant blossom of the orchards. Laila was twenty years old

a collection that represents a joint artistic creation, between Laila and the artists who admired and adored her, and saw beyond her physical appearance. Like Laila, the collection has wandered from place to place for many years, the home of Haim and Lea Koll being the most significant among them. But she wanted to find it a permanent home, not a con ventional home, such as a museum or gallery – perhaps because her life itself has been unconventional.

ers-by to discuss art, debate the issues of self-esteem, body image and valuing one self. In this way, displaying the collection in this space realizes Laila’s vision and her repeated request: “I want a place where my collection comes to life.” On the first floor of the library, photo graphs and printed works from the col lection have also been displayed in the showcase – a select documentation of works that are missing from the collec

tion for various reasons: some were given in lieu of payment (in the same way as they were originally given to Laila), others were sold to cover Laila’s living expenses, and some were sto len. The presence of these works is crucial to the Laila Schwartz Collection, just as their absence is integral to the life story of Laila Schwartz, and the story of the collection. Art as a gateway to social and educational dialogue In a reality of diminishing re sources being directed towards art, and its place in education and society becoming ever more limited, the individual’s need for self-expression and creativity through art will con tinue to decline, as grades and material worth take priority. A society void of artistic self-ex pression inevitably leads to an inability to accept difference, or

when her mother died, and, al though her mother had been unable to care for her, Laila re members her warm hearted ness. After her mother’s death, Laila was left with nothing but her body to rely on, and thus, with an intuitive attraction to the world of art, she found her way to the artists’ village of Ein Hod, and began modeling, searching for her identity, con structing it through her reflec tion in the eyes of those who beheld her, and forging her way ahead. Over the years, she modeled for artists and art stu dents in Israel, and in acade mies in Amsterdam, Berlin, Stockholm and Florence, con tinuing to form her identity, all the while, through many hours of posing in frozen positions. Throughout the 1980’s, along side her modeling, Laila began to create her own socio-politi

Menashe Kadishman

to sympathize or identify with others and this, eventually, brings about a rise in vi olence. Understanding these realities, Tel-Hai College promotes the socio-edu cational role of art, and emphasizes its power to connect and bridge gaps in lan guage, ethnicity, and culture. In this context, the Institute of Art at Tel Hai aspires to create active encounters and workshops around the collection, and to involve students and school pupils from the region, while conveying Laila’s

cal performances and video art, at the center of which was her body, and around which she scattered memories from her childhood. The Israeli media adopted her – and her socio-political ap proach to art, and she became a socio-ar tistic and media phenomenon, using her body as a source of empowerment, her gateway to victory. A home for the collection The works Laila has accumulated form

The open space in the library, where the exhibition is displayed, is busy with the movement of students of different gen ders, from various disciplines, sectors of the population, and fields of interest. As a library, open to all, this space invites learning, knowledge and contemplation, just as the Laila Schwartz Collection it self demands being accessible to all and, in particular, to those who come upon art by chance, as did Laila herself. The col lection invites casual visitors and pass

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