"Moron Hat" Exhibition

On the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel, the Paul Kor Memorial School set up a charming and interesting exhibition of "Tembel" (moron) hats. Each hat had artwork describing a significant event in the history of the State of Israel painted or glued on it.

The hats were tastefully created by artist Modi Elias – thank you, Modi!

The walls around the exhibition were adorned with Independence Day posters artist Paul Kor had designed over many years, for some of which he won prizes.

All of the children and adults were given a bracelet carrying the Star of David symbol and the school logo.

Greetings to principal Osnat and the teachers, and greetings to the schoolchildren for this memorable initiative!

The Paul Kor Memorial School stands for progress, innovation and a youthful spirit.

The Paul Kor Wall in Tel-Aviv/Jaffa, Independence Day 2018

Shuki Kook's gallery offers a unique opportunity to view some of the posters Paul Kor had designed for Israel's Independence Day over the years.

Kor won first prize in the competition for the official Independence Day poster in 1952 and again in 1963, plus various other prizes.

Having immigrated to Israel in 1948, Paul Kor's career promptly fit into the art and graphic design scene of the young country.

Kor's work included significant artistic and commercial achievements through projects for such leading local organizations as El-Al Israel Airlines, Elite, Hassne Insurance, Tambur Paints, Egged, Merck (MSD) pharmaceuticals, banknotes for the Bank of Israel and stamps for the Israel Postal Service.

Kor gained prominence in the local market and won various awards abroad. He conveyed his ideas through effective visual means, with grace and humor. He won awards from the Maeght gallery in France and the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Kor's major artistic achievements – his oil paintings – addressed such diversified topics as the Holocaust, the liberation of Nelson Mandela, the war in Bosnia, the murder of Yitzhak Rabin and many others.

Kor made a particularly important contribution to Israeli children's literature. His children's books are imaginative, colorful and beautifully designed. He is the father of "Kaspion the Little Fish" – a children's book translated into numerous languages. Kaspion still swims in the world's oceans. Kor's books made a substantial contribution to the children of Israel. He always said the colors are in the children's hearts.

Pixelated 1954

One of the new banknotes issued by the Bank of Israel in December 2017 is a 100 Sheqalim note bearing the portrait of Leah Goldberg, one of the most prominent and prolific poets, authors and playwrights of Hebrew literature. Leah Goldberg's body of work addresses biographic and personal issues and the landscapes of Israel, among other things.

In 1954, while still regarded as a new immigrant, Paul Kor was invited to design banknotes for the Bank of Israel.

The State of Israel was still young, so Paul Kor painted a construction worker building the country, a scientist at the Weizmann Institute and many other images.

The painting style Kor used was a form of cubism – the entire canvas was made up of tiny pixels, as if those banknotes had been drawn by a computer – although Paul Kor never touched a computer in his life.

Painter Mordechai Ardon, who was a member of the design competition committee, told Paul Kor: "My dear friend, you are ahead of your time. This is still unacceptable." Paul Kor won a special commendation for his banknote designs.

The banknotes Paul Kor had designed for the Bank of Israel were eventually issued in 1975. Here is one example:

Hiroshima Mon Amour (Hiroshima My Love)

The film, “Hiroshima Mon Amour” (1959), directed by Alain Resnais and based on a screenplay by Marguerite Duras, was set in Hiroshima at the end of World War II. As an anti-war film showcasing the devastating impact of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, it became regarded as one of the most important films of the French New Wave movement. Paul Kor saw this film three times at the old Eden cinema in Tel-Aviv. He had designed a similarly provocative cover for a book dealing with the tragedy of Hiroshima in August of 1945.

His work depicted the mushroom cloud of ash that Hiroshima survivors reported seeing when the huge fireball exploded and cast a sheen of darkness onto the area. Around 250,000 people perished in the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima.

On July 14, 2015, the superpowers of the West reached an agreement for having Iran's military nuclear program discontinued. Additionally, an agreement was signed with Iran to restrict its nuclear potential for a period of fifteen years. Kor was an adamant advocate of peace and love, and he would have supported today’s effort of western countries to oppose the use of nuclear weapons.

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