Sculpture Festival

It's that time again: hol hamo'ed, the interval days of Pesach, are noted for festivals and special events all over the country. At Ma'alot, a small city about 30 minutes from Karmiel, the annual spring sculpture event takes place.

First, we start with a kosher for Pesach meal at a nice restaurant.

They had to be creative to come up with something veggie for me:

Gill goes for the salmon...

After, we walk along the man-made lake to look at the sculptures. Each year, professional sculptors are invited from all over the world. They get local stone and must create their pieces on-site. Part of the fun is watching them work, but the pieces were completed before we arrived.


This year, in addition to local sculptors, there are artists from Italy, Turkey, Georgia, and Japan. Some pieces are mixed media:

Some mix textures:

My favorite is a piece by the Turkish sculptor. It has a very organic look.

The giant shoe, made by Arab Israeli sculptor Jamil Hasan, was also cute:


Then it was time to walk along the lake and take in the scene:

Despite the heavy winds, many people were renting the little paddle boats.

Because this is Israel, there is always something quirky to see. This Druze vendor selling kosher for Pesach Syrian pitah (made from matzoh meal) is classic.