Art and Culture

The African Studies Gallery has set itself the goal of offering the Israeli public new and varied ways of looking at the different African cultures and their artistic richness. The gallery functions as a non selling gallery. Without a permanent collection, but with in-depth exhibitions, it is the only exhibition space in Israel that presents both traditional and contemporary African work.

As a not-for-profit organisation, the gallery does not need to adapt its choices to an accepted Western art market tastes and conventions. It brings to Western audiences original African work that reflects artistic expression, styles that are also relevant to Africans themselves, and serves as a platform to expose African artists who have not yet been exhibited in the West.

The curatorship in the gallery seeks to offer mediation between different and equal cultures. Attempting to place African creativity within a living context can stimulate critical thinking that challenges common assumptions about the continent, its inhabitants and their cultural heritage. The exhibitions in the gallery seek to raise questions about art, modernism, authenticity and even the question of who is an artist. In doing so, the gallery serves as a laboratory for presenting and examining ideas no less than the works of art themselves, and offers the kind of reading which, unlike ethnography frozen in time, produces art history.

Accordingly, the gallery encourages collaborations between Israeli and African artists, promotes mutual learning by supporting academic research, student exchanges and preserving traditional creative techniques and styles. This approach that supports projects and promotes creative skills, encourages women of African origin to learn and create in order to make a living. Residency scholarships for independent artists, are an integral part of the gallery's activities.

www.africanstudiesgallery.org

Zumu is founded on the belief that everyone, regardless of background or circumstance, should have access to high-quality arts and culture. The organization works to counteract the concentration of Israel’s arts offerings in the country’s geographical and commercial centre, working with peripheral cities and communities to realize a robust and vibrant presence for the arts. With the help of local municipalities and residents, Zumu sets up a new contemporary art museum in a different city every few months.

The museums are set in unused public spaces and exhibit specially commissioned works from established and emerging artists, and offer free entry as well as workshops and cultural events for locals of all ages. When Zumu moves on to its next location, it maintains an ongoing relationship with the community, supporting them in their effort to cultivate a long-term commitment to the arts in their city.

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The New Fund for Cinema and Television has been providing financial and professional support to filmmakers since 1993. Since its inception the Fund has supported hundreds of documentaries, feature films, shorts and TV dramas, many of which have been recognized by awards juries in Israel and abroad. The Fund seeks to promote tolerance, social justice and inclusivity through its work, both through the films it funds and through special programmes bringing together filmmakers from across the Middle East, new filmmakers or aspiring ultra-orthodox female filmmakers, to name just a few.

The Foundation helps nurture talented creators from a wide variety of backgrounds and communities, and runs a wide range of programs designed to empower these creators and promote equal opportunity in an industry where competition for resources is high. In addition, the New Fund for Film and Television operates educational programs and cultural activities in which diverse audiences in Israel and around the world are exposed to Israeli creativity supported by the Foundation.

In 2014, the Foundation initiated the program Documentary Creator’s Incubator – a program to cultivate documentary filmmakers from a variety of backgrounds throughout Israel. The program, now in its ninth year, brings together 9 documentary artists each year, supporting and guiding them in creating films that present and amplify female voices on social issues related to family, community, the status of women, human dignity, and human rights. The Documentary Creators Incubator operates in accordance with the high professional standards set by the Foundation, enabling filmmakers to utilise their abilities, create films as a tool for creating a pluralistic and tolerant society, and create a significant female support group. Anatta has been supporting the program since 2018, providing the participants with broad and varied professional enrichment workshops, as well as encouraging joint work and mutual projects, which enrich and deepen their work.

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The Kibbutz Dance Company was founded in 1973 in Kibbutz Ga'aton in Western Galilee by the late Yehudit Arnon, one of the pioneers of dance education in Israel and recipient of the Israel Prize. Today, under the artistic direction of Rami Be'er, the company has become synonymous with a unique and groundbreaking dance and stands in line with the best modern dance companies in the world. The troop is adored in Israel and has gained international recognition. They perform in many of the most prestigious theatres and festivals around the world.

The company's dancers live and create in Ga’aton the International Dance Village. The vibrant cultural centre is dedicated to promoting and nurturing movement and dance. In addition to the Kibbutz Dance Company and the Young Company ("Kibbutzit 2"), the village hosts the "Dance Journey" a program in cooperation with the Jewish Agency, with an annual program of workshops and summer courses. The Dance Village is a magnet for dancers and artists from Israel and around the world who seek to enrich knowledge and be inspired. Each year, about 4,000 dancers, choreographers and dance professionals visit the village.

The company works to make dance accessible by performing to students all over the country. With a conviction that dance has a special status in our society, the dancers dedicate their time to education and social mission, exposing lay audiences to dance, and inviting population of all ages – from children to seniors – from neighbouring communities, cultures and religions to participate in dance and movement workshops that explore the connection between body and mind.

Since 2013, the Anatta Foundation has been helping to fund dance performances by the company for schools from the Arab sector. This contribution enabled the company to give the students a glimpse into the language of dance, enrich their cultural world and introduce them to contemporary Israeli creativity.

www.kcdc.co.il/en

The Batsheva Dance Company, founded in 1964 as a repertory company by Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild, is one of the most prominent and well-known dance companies in the world. The company is at the forefront of the local and international dance, thanks to the bold choreographic voice of in-house choreographer Ohad Naharin and thanks to the uncompromising performance quality of the company's dancers. Bat-Sheva is an international company of about 40 dancers with two performing ensembles, the senior and the Batsheva Ensemble. The dancers come from Israel and around the world. Batsheva is the largest dance company in Israel and holds about 220 performances a year for over 100,000 spectators. The company's dancers take an active part in the creative processes in the a program "Batsheva Dancers Create", performed annually with the support of Michael Sela Foundation for the cultivation of young talent in Batsheva. The revolutionary movement language developed by Naharin serves as the daily training method of the company's dancers.

Bat-Sheva maintains an annual workshops attended by outstanding dancers in Israel, as well as annual summer courses. The courses enable young dancers to become familiar with the company's work processes, to perfect their personal and professional toolbox and to develop professional skills at a high level.

DocAviv operates in the heart of one of the most innovative, vibrant and surprisingly creative arenas. The association provides a unique stage throughout the country for documentary filmmakers, bringing new audiences and encouraging creativity that expands and explores the boundaries of the genre.

The highlight of the organisation's activities is the DocaAviv Festival, Tel Aviv, which is the largest and one of the most appreciated in the world. Every year, more than one hundred and thirty new films from Israel and around the world are presented as part of a program that includes the Israeli competition, the international competition, the depth of field competition, the short competition and the student film competition. Each year, the festival awards the largest prizes in Israel to original Israeli documentary work, alongside other prizes for Israeli and international films and outstanding student films. Prizes are also awarded at the annual Student Pitching Competition of DocuYoung. As of 2018, DocAviv has been selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars) as one of the leading festivals whose winners are automatically eligible for an Oscar nomination. From this year, the winning films in the Israeli, international and short competitions will be eligible to submit their Oscar nominations in the documentary category.

The association has made it its mission to encourage and promote young documentary work through annual projects such as DocuYoung, films are screened at the festival. To expose the documentary work and bring it to the widest possible audiences, the organisation holds annual regional festivals such as Docaviv-Galilee in Ma'a lot Tarshiha, DocAviv Negev in Yeruham and throughout the Negev, as well as screenings of dozens of documentaries in various cultural centres throughout the country. During the year DocAviv operates the DocAviv Cinema, which screens the best documentaries of the year every month, and as of 2020 also the Docustream program.