Peoples of Israel: Patil Karakashian, Jerusalem’s 4th-generation Armenian ceramicist

Patil Karakashian, 24, is a fourth-generation Armenian ceramic artist in Jerusalem's Old City, continuing her grandfather's legacy of painting the iconic ceramic street signs. She works in the family workshop, a gathering place for a diverse mix of locals and tourists, and also studies chemistry at Hebrew University.

Patil Karakashian, a 24-year-old fourth-generation Armenian ceramic artist, walks through Jerusalem's Old City and sees her grandfather's artwork on the ceramic street signs. She now paints new ones herself, working alongside her parents in the family workshop in the Christian Quarter. The workshop, in a centuries-old Ottoman building, is a gathering place for Israelis, Palestinians, priests, nuns and tourists. Karakashian speaks Armenian, Arabic, English, Hebrew and German, and studies chemistry at Hebrew University. Her great-grandfather Megherdich Karakashian arrived from Kütahya, Turkey in 1919 to restore Dome of the Rock tiles. Her grandfather Stepan created the original street signs in 1966 under Jordanian rule, and after the 1967 war, mayor Teddy Kollek asked him to add Hebrew. Karakashian is proud to continue the family heritage, which she says is essential to Jerusalem's identity.