Art Home Lands

Art Home Lands (second edition) is a book of poetry in English, Arabic and Hebrew by sculptor Oded Halahmy, reflecting on his art and three homelands: Baghdad, Jerusalem and New York. “Oded Halahmy was born in Iraq, raised in Israel and studied Art at Saint Martin’s School in London. Since 1971 he has divided his time between SoHo in New York and Old Jaffa. He speaks English most of the year, thinks in Hebrew and is always thrilled in Arabic. In other words, he has three floors in the Babylonian Tower he built with his own hands. His sculptures can be found in the collections of The Guggenheim in New York, The Israel Museum in Jerusalem and many other public and private collection around the world. In most of his sculptures, the pomegranate takes place. Oded Halahmy hangs it on Chanukah lamps; on a king's crown; and even on horses' heads. Thus the pomegranate image gallops from the holy to everyday life and back. In other pieces we see palm dates, reminding himself perhaps of a landscape of trees whose roots will always remain between the Euphrates and the Tigris. Oded Halahmy is a poetic sculptor. He knows how to weld a sculpture and mask into poetic prayers.” - Ronny Someck