In many cases design sprouts from local craft traditions. Israel could be described as a hub of cultures and traditions, and it turned out that not even one of them took the center stage. However, the freedom from boundaries was a potent motivation towards inventiveness, originality and exploiting unusual sources of inspiration. It's precisely due to the existence of restrictions and limitations that design from Israel challenge unexplored possibilities and demonstrate creativity.

 

The mixing system, which characterizes this region, was coined in the culinary realm as " Fusion Cuisine". It became a world trend not so long ago. It describes food that combines elements of various culinary traditions whilst not fitting specifically into any. It is generally used to refer to the innovations in many contemporary restaurant cuisines since the 1970’s” (From Wikipedia encyclopedia). If we see design works by various designers from Israel, one could sense that fusion.

 

Of course this expression could mostly be seen where the main energy of the Israeli designer was put: on the summit of art and design, which took place especially in objects of “one of a kind”.

 

If one would like to outline some general notions that would highlight design from Israel, one can detect three triggers/starting points, described here by the three P’s.

 

The first is “Passion” which reflects the tactile mentality, visual warmth and hot temperament of the Israeli lifestyle. This would correspond to Kenya Hara's investigation of the Haptic aspect in design in which senses are evoked by the design object.

 

The second is “Pleasure” which consists of humor and even irony. The unfortunately complex - and yet unsolved - political situation between Israel and Palestine, results two major paths of coping with our daily life. Some would choose ironical, sarcastic or humoristic comments with the hope that the first pleasant reaction would be followed by an understanding of how absurd some situations are and maybe enlighten a possibility of re-thinking about them.

 

Others would take it gravely and that leads to the third P, which stands for  “Pain”. It expresses the difficult situation of the political, economical and social difficulties that currently exist in Israel. While these grave feelings are not expressed as directly in design as in art, some of it does come across.

 

The region’s character interacts with the world design scene; the mix, like a good cocktail, can be both heady and smooth.