Final Report from Elise
Elise’s last report from the Jerusalem Cultural Fellowship’s pilot program, which ended this week.
July 8
Sunday afternoon we met James Snyder, head of the Israel Museum, for coffee at their little café. In spite of an incredibly tight deadline to finish the last touches on the museum before its opening, he was his usual dapper and charming self. Our visual artist Shelley Jordon and choreographer Reggie Wilson, who had performed at the Museum in the 80’s, joined us! A wide ranging discussion about the museums and the future of culture in Jerusalem, with a short visit by senior curator Suzanne Landau was followed by an incredible tour led by an astute volunteer.
Later that evening we joined Jerusalem Season of Culture curator Itay Mautner and his deputy Karen Brunwasser for an incredible evening of tapas, live music and dancing in the aisles – a joyful event in the deepest alley of Mahane Yehuda market. Apparently this bi-weekly gathering with different ethnic music (this time Greek) draws hundreds of Jersualemites of all ages, including the lead singer of the international band, Dag Nahash, and a bunch of young international journalists.
Early the next day we left for Yad Vashem. While I expected to be upset and moved, I wasn’t prepared for the power of what I call The Architecture of Mourning which Moshe Safdie created. Starting with Michal Rovner’s video scroll of life before the Holocaust, projected on a vast triangular wall we went through the brilliantly crafted exhibits, with our guide, Senior Art Curator, Yehudit Shendar, who helped focus us on little gems of art woven in throughout. The material was difficult and unimaginable, but it was the arrival at the view of Israel at the top of the ramp that really undid me.
That evening, Jonathan Safran Foer had a conversation with Etgar Keret, another insanely funny author, for packed house at Mishkenot. The next evening our planning fellow, Josh Sirefman, gave a brilliant public talk about planning and his observations about Jerusalem. Architects, planners and city officials came from all over the country and the conversation was truly optimistic. Our last day started with a conversation with Deputy Mayor Naomi Tsur (Planning and Environment Portfolio) who was so delighted by Josh and his vision that she invited him back for a conference she is planning, and just before Nicole’s talk, Josh and I met with the aforementioned visionary, Erel Margalit, who was also impressed and wants Josh to return to Jerusalem.
Shelley has been talking with curators who are interested in an exhibition of her work, and Reggie too will return at some point to work with one of the many dance companies who he had a profound impact on (I’ll talk about Reggie’s brilliant teaching in some other missive). So from the perspective of a very clear criteria for success – “were the fellows invited to return” – we had a major one.
