I love Jerusalem all year round, I do, but there is something special about Jerusalem in the summer. Amid the scintillating heat and myriad events, the Jerusalem Season of Culture casts its curatorial eye on the city, presenting offerings that reveal different views and voices, opening up new perspectives on Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Season of Culture (JSOC) will open on July 1, 2013 and continue through August 23, 2013, under the baton of Executive Director Naomi Bloch Fortis; and Artistic Director Itay Mautner. The complete program with venue and ticket information is available on the JSOC website in English.
Jerusalem Season of Culture Highlights
Let’s start in the middle, with one of my favorite annual events, Contact Point: Contact Point at the Israel Museum is by far the best party of the year – not only a different kind of museum experience, but a monumental event that lets visitors experience the museum in several different ways. There is so much going on that you can’t possibly do everything, but that is part of the mystique.
That’s what I had to say after last year’s summer night spent at the museum, read on (click here) for details of the event and my adventures. Don’t hesitate, mark your calendars and get your tickets for July 25, 2013. Contact Point artistic director Renana Raz; producer David Kosher.
Now, back to the beginning. Let’s go where all the action begins: at home. The In-House Festival will take place from July 1 – 5, 2013 with site-specific performances that take you into Jerusalem homes. There’s an air of mystery to these events, as the addresses are not public, and will be sent to ticket holders only. Each home will reveal its qualities in dialogue with the event and participants. In-House Festival artistic director: Dafna Kron; Production: Lia Lerer, Jerusalem Season of Culture.
Performances will include the hallucinatory Anesthesia, a lay-down concert on mattresses, with lullabies that may induce some fantastic dreams (perhaps even a nightmare or two…) performed by a talented dark crew: Noam Inbar (Habiluim, Oy Division), Adam Scheflan (The Girls ), Ariel Armoni (Pissuk Rachav), Yoni Silver (Habiluim, Midnight Peacocks), Igor Krutogolov (Kruzenshtern i Parohod).
Hanan Ben Simon will not only invite audiences to his Jerusalem apartment, he’s planning to take you to his bed. Sounds cozy.
Naomi Yoeli, one of the most creative, multi-faceted performing artists around (Aunt Frida, Between Calendars) , does not have a home in Jerusalem. A lover’s bench in the Yemen Moshe neighborhood bears the sign: “Seating area in memory of Tzili and Shlomo Yoeli who loved Jerusalem, and especially this park.” Around this bench, donated by Yoeli’s mother in memory of Naomi’s father, Naomi Yoeli will present And Especially this Park, a work of story-telling, sculpture and sound. There will also be a night-time tour, composed of memories from Yoeli’s Jerusalem childhood in the 50s and 60s.
Party at Uri Vinokoor’s house with Coolooloosh, “The Residents” & LayerZ.
Musician Ittai Binnun (AndraLaMoussia), will be playing with his toys – musical instruments old and new, curios, recording equipment and technological wonders – in his Ein Kerem studio, creating a unique soundtrack. Each evening Ittai will host an Israeli musician as well as a surprise international guest – via skype for a very digitally aware jam session.
Under the Mountain, under the artistic direction of Omer Krieger, is one of the most unique aspects of the Jerusalem Season of Culture. Working from the understanding that all public action is performance, the aim is to enhance this awareness and promote public art, art projects and actions intentionally engaged with and performed in the public sphere. Under the Mountain 2013 will open with the launching of the New Public Art School, the Experimental School campus in Jerusalem will host lessons, conversations, actions, workshops and a party.
Examining and acting in the Jerusalem public sphere, Under the Mountain events will take place at the Knesset and other public places, with the closing event on the eve of Tisha B’Av (the Jewish fast day commemorating the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem) at the Western Wall Plaza. City Artist, a project launched in 2012, will continue in an expanded version, curated by Gilly Karjevsky and Hila Cohen-Schneiderman., placing 4 artists in a year-long residency in different departments of the Jerusalem Municipality. For three consecutive Fridays (5, 12, 19) in July, a new chronicle of the State of Israel will be read aloud in a public square; an open microphone will be made available for passers-by to respond. The event, curated by Udi Edelman, is supported by The Minerva Humanities Center, Tel Aviv University, and The Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon. Reading passages courtesy of The Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem. Under the Mountain artistic director: Omer Krieger; producer: Yael Cohen.
Food Trip – Coming soon, to a Jerusalem neighborhood near you – Chef Assaf Granit (Maestro of the delectable Machne Yehuda Restaurant) will take an artistic-culinary-social journey through Jerusalem. Beginning in mid-July, the truck will park in a different neighborhood each day for three weeks, hosting Jerusalem personalities, savouring their Jerusalem culinary memories and cooking up a new menu of tasty offerings (at cost) each day. Sign up for location updates on the JSOC website. Food Trip artistic directors: Assaf Granit and Itay Mautner; production: Faza.
The Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival will close the season in August with concerts of exceptional quality in exceptional locations.
One of the voices will be composer Emahoy Tsegué Mariam Guèbru. An Ethiopian nun living in Israel since 1984, she has devoted her life to music and religion. She has recorded albums in Ethiopia (in the series Éthiopiques) and Israel (Hed Arzi circa 1980s, now unavailable). A musical friendship begun years ago with Maya Dunietz and Ilan Volkov, was taken up again with renewed vitality two years ago, as Emahoy Tsegué reflected on her approaching 90th birthday and wished to publish a book of her sheet music. Dunietz and the Jerusalem Season of Culture have been working to document her musical scores, and to produce a festive tribute concert. Scheduled for July 28, 2013, the concert will feature: Omri Mor, Ester Rada, Yvette Mekonnen (who will sing Emahoy Tsegué’s songs in English, French and Amharic), Dejen (who will play traditional Ethiopian instruments), a Choir made up of Ethiopian priests (who will sing hymns in Hagaz), and Maya Dunietz and the Tel Aviv Soloists Ensemble (who will perform one of Emahoy Tsegué’s compositions which has been adapted for a string orchestra. Artistic Director: Maya Dunietz; Producer: Adi Nachman. Listen to a selection of her compositions here.
