A Gift for Our Children – Culture for Children in Kibbutzim

חצר גרוטאות אולף הולאפפל  מתווים לחצר (1) (Custom)

The rich, inner culture to which children raised and educated on kibbutzim were exposed is revealed in the exhibit and book, Culture for Children in Kibbutzim. Included in this culture are ideas in the fields of architecture, ties to nature, the “junk yard”, art, games and toys, literature, theater, puppetry, film and holidays.
Carousel built by kibbutz members of spare parts from agricultural machines, Negba, 1945, Photographer Avraham Malevsky, courtesy of the Jewish National Fund Archive
Rare films for the magic lantern, fixtures for playgrounds, creative toys, puppet theaters, literary illustrations and more – all these are on display in the exhibit at the Museum of Art Ein Harod – pieces that were made for children on kibbutzim, some of which were scattered around the country, beginning with the 1920s and up to today.

The exhibit and the book raise questions about the significance of collaboration in education, about the involvement of the community in the children’s education, and the contribution of adults to the design of the cultural milieu in which the future generation was raised, questions that crop up nowadays in discussions of contemporary education theories.
Einat Amitai, born on Kibbutz Gesher, with a doctorate in computer science, is a collector of and investigator into kibbutz children’s culture. The exhibit and book are the result of four years of research, during which Einat documented her study through personal interviews, the collection of written sources of information, and in the assembly of objects from kibbutz archives and from private people throughout the country.

The book, A Gift for Our Children: Culture for Children in Kibbutzim, contains more than 400 pages, 270 photographs and rare materials coming to light for the first time here.

Designer: Michael Gordon

The book’s publisher: Museum of Art Ein Harod

Various Artists

A Gift for Our Children – Culture for Children in Kibbutzim

Curator: Einat Amitai

September 2012-January 2013

Skip to content