Jerusalem's arts and culture community is growing larger by the second. From open air music festivals in the Old City to a lesson in religious and mystical symbolism at the Museum of Islamic Art, here are some colorful festivals and events worth scoping out this spring.
Season of Literature
The first festival with a line of events centering on poetry, literature, poets and authors takes place at Jerusalem's Beit Avi Chai on March 11-15. Events include a tribute to singer Matti Caspi and poetic song with Caspi himself, Rona Kenan, Ilana Eliya and Kobi Meidan, a tribute to Tirza Attar with five young musicians, a multidisciplinary evening connected to David Grossman's book Be My Knifeincluding dance, music, theater, song and words with Eran Zur and other artists, poet Roi Hasson and musician Assaf Amdursky in an interesting encounter, and following the footsteps of the Nobel Prize laureate in Eretz Yisrael with Bob Dylan in the Holy Land.
Sounds of Jerusalem in the Old City
© Hila Wagman
Every evening from March 12 to March 15, dozens of live open air performances in the Old City will feature well-known artists in new combinations as well as young, new talents. This will be the 7th renewal of the festival, enabling the general public to enjoy music free of charge at various venues, including IDF Square, Jaffa Gate, David's Tower, Hurva Square and other locations. Free admission.
Performances in Tzidkiyahu's Cave
Tzidkiyahu's Cave, the country's most unique performance venue, is the location for weekly musical shows incorporating an experience that's both unique and mystical. On March 8, there's a women's evening for International Women's Day, with Revital Willesden, Din Din Aviv and Leah Shabbat in a performance incorporating humor, poetry and feminine power. Shrike, When East Meets West on March 12features the Mahapecha Band and Eran Zamir in a special show marking the end of the Jerusalem Arts Festival. The 25th anniversary of the musical activity of Knisiat HaSechel, one of the foundational stones of Israeli rock, takes place on March 15. Rotem Cohen marks the release of his new album on March 21, and Suli Rand appears on March 22.
Tel: *6226, bimot.co.il, pami.co.il
Free shuttles leave the First Train Station parking area to Tzidkiyahu's Cave starting at 7 p.m. and return at the end of the performances.
Ichikidana on Mondays
Courtesy of Abraham Hostel
One night a week the Abraham Hostel morphs into an Indian restaurant. Ichikidana, Jerusalem's only Indian restaurant, which closed four years ago, returns to life every Monday at 19:00. Chef Lahava Siliman cooks and serves specialties from the Subcontinent in the Abraham's lounge, offering the finest vegetarian-vegan culinary traditions.
Hamsa, Hamsa, Hamsa
An exhibition on the evolution of the hamsa symbol in Israeli art at the Museum of Islamic Art, from May 24 to November 26. There are exactly 555 items in the exhibit, which unlike other shows dealing with the hamsa from a historical perspective, seeks to show its contemporary relevance in Israel of 2018.
It's Also Possible
This exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Art at Jerusalem's Hechal Shlomo combines works from the museum's collection with those of Arab and Jewish female artists from Israel's broad spectrum of separate communities. Expect visual combinations and ideas that sometimes seem impossible but stimulate thought in those who view them.
Israel Museum Jerusalem
Artist Zoya Cherkassky's Pravda, on exhibit at the Israel Museum through October 31, 2018, is a series of her paintings and drawings done over the past few years, looking back at the great immigration from Russia and the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s. In parallel, and until November, there's another exhibition worth seeing – The Bourgeoisie: Society and Style in European Art, where one of the items on show is the desk of writer Heinrich Heine, famous among other things for saying “in a place where they burn books, they will burn people.” Referencing the the burning of a Koran, and early 17th-century works containing symbols that have carried on the lives of the contemporary European bourgeoisie.