This is a poster for the sixth event of the Hapoel sports association that took place May 10–17, 1956. The Hapoel sports event took place once every four years from 1928 to 1995.
The poster is blue and red and features an athlete wearing running shorts and a sports vest. The athlete seems to be crossing the finishing line which is adorned with red, blue, and white streamers, representing the Israeli flag and the socialist party. The artist highlights the athlete’s impressive arm and leg muscles in a style reminiscent of Soviet art of the times. In the background is the number six, indicating that this was the sixth Hapoel sports event, and surrounding the number six are many faces, presumably the spectators.
Would You Like to Know More?
Hapoel - Hapoel is an Israeli sports organisation established in 1926 by the Histadrut (the Israeli Trade Union). The goal of Hapoel was to promote the culture of body, health, and sport among the workers. Unlike Maccabi which emphasised Olympic sports, Hapoel focused on gymnastics and light athletics and attempted to involve as many workers as possible in sports activities in order to improve their health and prevent work-related injuries. Hapoel still exists today and supports thousands of athletes in Israel. The association attaches great importance to popular sports events such as the annual Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) swim and the Negev march.
Yohanan Simon - The poster was designed by Yohanan Simon, an artist and painter who designed many posters of the kibbutz movement in the 1950s. His designs reflected the idea of the “New Jew,” a central concept of the twentieth-century Zionist movement which portrayed strong Jews connected to their bodies in contrast to the historical image of weak Jews from the shtetl.
