Art and designאחיעם שושני

Achiam

Achiam was an Israeli sculptor who carved stone and wood and lived and worked in France from 1947.

1916 to 2005Direct carving in stoneSculptures of biblical figuresThe Achiam Museum in Binyamina

Born: 10 February 1916, Beit Gan
Died: 26 March 2005, 15th arrondissement of Paris
Occupation: sculptor

Achiam was born in 1916 in Beit Gan

Achiam was born Ahiam Shoshany in 1916 in Beit Gan, near Yavne'el in the Galilee. He grew up as a farm child and first studied agronomy.

The British arrested him for his political activity. In his cell he carved reliefs into the walls and found his talent for sculpture. He later learned the craft as a stone cutter in the quarries of Jerusalem.

In 1947 he won the Grand Prix in Prague in a competition for rebuilding Lidice, then moved to Paris. His work was shown at the René Drouin Gallery in 1948. He carved directly in stone without models, often on biblical figures, music and human feelings.

He took part in many exhibitions and won the Grand Prix des Beaux-Arts of the City of Paris in 1965. He lived in Sèvres, did not see himself as part of any school and chose not to teach.

Before his death he left many of his works to the Jewish National Fund to found a museum. The Achiam Museum opened in Shuni Park in Binyamina in 2003, and visitors may touch the sculptures. He died in 2005.