Photo courtesy of the Naggar Musrara School
1986
In the early 1980s a burned and neglected basement stood in the Musrara neighborhood of Jerusalem. Darkened by soot and largely forgotten, it seemed an unlikely place for the beginnings of an art school. Yet it was precisely there that a young photographer named Avi Sabag began to imagine a space for creativity. Musrara at the time was still marked by the legacy of the city’s former border and by the social tensions that had shaped the neighborhood for decades. Sabag believed that an art school could grow within this reality rather than apart from it. Instead of ignoring the surrounding history, the aim was to engage with it. From this idea the Musrara – Naggar School of Art and Society began to take shape.
The school was founded in 1986 by Sabag as an independent initiative centered on photography and on the relationship between artistic practice and civic engagement. The arrival of a small experimental art school in the neighborhood was not greeted with enthusiasm by many local residents. The neighborhood carried strong memories of inequality and protest, most notably through the Israeli Black Panthers movement that had emerged there in the early 1970s. Sabag responded by turning his camera toward the community itself. One of the school’s early projects documented the history of the Black Panthers and the lives of local residents. When the photographs were exhibited in the neighborhood many people felt, perhaps for the first time, that their experiences had been acknowledged and recorded. The project helped establish a dialogue between the school and its surroundings.
From these modest beginnings the school gradually developed into a multidisciplinary institution devoted to the relationship between art, media, and society. With support from the Jerusalem Foundation, the Naggar family helped provide the school with its permanent home, allowing it to grow into the institution it is today. While photography remains central to its identity, new areas of study were introduced over time. Today students can pursue programs in photography, art, visual communication, music, and phototherapy. The curriculum encourages students to explore the connections between artistic practice and the social environment in which it exists. Musrara has also gained recognition for its pioneering work in phototherapy, an approach that uses photography as a tool for emotional reflection and healing. This field, which later gained broader international attention, reflects the school’s belief that artistic expression can play a role in personal and social understanding.
Students at Musrara are encouraged to develop a strong individual voice while remaining attentive to the world around them. The school combines technical instruction with close mentorship and critical discussion. Workshops, exhibitions, and collaborative projects allow students to experiment with different forms of expression while presenting their work to the public. Many graduates continue to work in the fields of art, media, and cultural production, contributing to Israel’s broader creative landscape.
Over the years the school has expanded well beyond its original basement space. Additional studios and facilities have allowed the institution to grow while remaining rooted in the neighborhood where it began. Musrara itself has changed considerably during this time, gradually becoming one of Jerusalem’s most distinctive cultural districts. In recognition of his civic work and his role in establishing and leading the Musrara School, Avi Sabag was awarded the Teddy Kollek Prize for Public Service by the Jerusalem Foundation in 2007.
Currently, a major expansion supported by the Jerusalem Foundation is underway to create the Harary Campus for the Musrara-Naggar School, providing the institution with additional space for its growing programs and activities. Today the school stands as an integral part of Musrara itself. What began as a modest experiment in a forgotten basement has become a cultural landmark woven into the life of the neighborhood. In many ways the institution reflects Musrara’s past, shaped by memory and by the voices that emerged from its streets. Yet it has also become one of the forces shaping the neighborhood’s future, demonstrating how art can open space for dialogue, recognition, and, at times, quiet forms of healing.
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