Israeli culture - Novembre 2012
01. 11. 2012
OREN LAOR and NIV SHEINFELD: ”The Ship of Fools”
17. International Festival of Contemporary Art 4+4 Days in Motion
November 1, 2012, 7.30pm, NoD, Prague / November 2, 2012, 9pm, NoD, Prague
A famous Israeli artistic duo Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor comes to the Czech Republic for the first time to present their renowned choreography The Ship of Fools, which reconstructs the absurdity of the Israeli day-to-day reality. Three figures coexist next to each other, each of them protecting their own world, but eventually one day they will have to encounter…
Festival 4+4 Days in Motion brings to the Czech Republic the extraordinary and unusual dance projects. ”The Ship of Fools has a capacity to make a viewer feel the unpleasant chilly reality of the overdue conflict. At the same time it diverts the audience by allegory of the stage performance”, says Pavel Štorek, dramaturge of the festival.
www.nivoren.com / www.ctyridny.cz/en
REQUIEM FOR AUSCHWITZ
November 4, 2012, 8.30pm, Rudolfinum, Prague
Requiem for Auschwitz, a musical composition by the Dutch Sinto musician Roger Moreno Rathgeb, will be performed at the Prague Rudolfinum concert hall on November 4. The author composed the work after his visit to the Auschwitz extermination camp. While the Requiem has been composed by a Sinto musician, it should become a monument to all the victims of the Holocaust. The work will be performed by a professional Roma and Sinti philharmonic orchestra from Frankfurt, Germany. The world premiere of the Requiem for Auschwitz took place on May 3, 2012 at the prestigious Nieuwe Kerk concert hall in Amsterdam, which was completely sold out.
The Prague performance promises an exceptional musical experience: it will feature famous opera singers Martin Šrejma (tenor), Martin Bárta (baritone) and Jana Wallingerová (alto) and the fourth part will be performed by talented Roma soprano, Pavlína Matiová. The soloists will be accompanied by the Kühn Choir of Prague.
The project is held under the auspices of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Mr. Petr Nečas, and the Mayor of Prague, Mr. Bohuslav Svoboda.
YAIR DALAL
November 6, 2012, 7.00pm, the Church of St. Spirit, Prague
In November, the excellent Israeli musician Yair Dalal will present his art in Prague twice. First he will play at the Church of St. Spirit in the center of Prague’s Old Town on November 6. The event, with free admission, will be directed by Peter Gyori.
Yair Dalal, born in 1955, a composer, violinist, oud player and singer, is a prolific musician who plays an important role in shaping the global world music scene. Over the last decade he has created 11 albums, covering wide and varied cultural territory, authentically representing Israel’s cultures and fusing them through music as a whole
Much of Dalal’s work reflects his extensive musical skills in both classical and Arabic music and also reflects a strong affinity he has for the desert and its inhabitants. Dalal’s family came to Israel from Baghdad and his Iraqi roots are embedded in his musical work.
LIGHT OF UNDERSTANDING CONCERT and Yair Dalal
November 7, 2012, 7.00pm, the Spanish Synagogue/the Church of St. Spirit, Prague
A day after the first concert, Yair Dalal will perform again within the framework of the traditional project Light of Understanding. The evening, directed again by Peter Gyori, will be covered live by Czech TV and Czech Radio. This concert celebrating human community and solidarity, which takes place simultaneously at the Spanish Synagogue and the Church of St. Spirit, will feature many artists of different genres.
www.bejt-praha.cz/koncerty.html / www.yairdalal.com
NITAI HERSHKOVITS
17th International Jazz Piano Festival
November 10, 2012, 7.00pm, St. Laurent Church, Prague
Talented Israeli pianist and composer Nitai Hershkovits will be featured besides Larry Porter and Marialy Pacheco at the first concert of this year’s 17th International Jazz Piano Festival.
Nitai is a 24 year-old musician with an incredibly strong and original voice and musical vision. Born in Israel, he started playing clarinet, before discovering his love for the piano at age 15. Then he moved to Tel Aviv, combining regular school with external music and piano lessons with jazz educators Amit Golan and Yuval Cohen. He was awarded the highest scholarship from the Israel-American Music Foundation on four occasions in a row between the years 2004 - 2010. Nitai has performed and collaborated with many noted artists, among them Avi Lebovich, Zohar Fresco or Daniel Zamir.
Nitai has been enjoying performing in Israel. He plays at many jazz clubs and at well-known festivals Red-Sea Jazz Festival and Tel Aviv Jazz Festival, but has also shared his powerful piano playing with South America, Europe and Australia.
Recently he has been collaborating in the studio with international bass player and composer, Avishai Cohen, with whom he released the new album Duende this May.
www.nitaihershkovits.com / www.jmw.cz/eshop.php?akce=kondetail&id=442
SHALEV AD-EL and BAROCCO SEMPRE GIOVANE
November 13, 2012, 7.00pm, Pardubice Castle – Knights Hall
Famous Israeli harpsichordist Shalev Ad-El will join Czech chamber orchestra Barocco sempre giovane to perform together at the beautiful Knights Hall of the Pardubice Castle on November 13.
Shalev Ad-El was born in Israel in 1968. He has quickly developed a reputation as one of Europe's most sought-after continuo players. As recipient of the AICF scholarships, he graduated from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and won the first prize at the Francois Shapira Competition in 1987. As a soloist he has played with most of the leading orchestras, including the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra or the Israeli Chamber Orchestra. He has also made numerous radio and TV recordings as well as live performances throughout the world.
Barocco sempre giovane is a chamber orchestra consisting of top young professional musicians. They specialize in interpreting compositions of high baroque period, but also include other styles in their repertoire. The group, founded in 2004, has performed at hundreds of important concerts and is regularly invited to domestic and international music festivals.
www.shalevadel.com / www.barocco.cz
AMIR GUTFREUND: ”Does the Holocaust still have any meaning to us?”
A lecture with discussion and presentation of the book ”Our Holocaust”
November 15, 2012, 6.30pm, Goethe-Institut, 2nd Floor, Prague
Amir Gutreund speaks about the Holocaust, about everyday life, decision making in Israel as well as about his first novel Our Holocaust, which has been just translated into Czech. There Gutfreund focuses on the story of two generations – one that survived the Shoa and their children, Amira and Efi, who embark on a quest for the roots and the past of the Gutfreund family.
The novel with autobiographic features was translated into German, English and French and now has finally seen also its Czech and Hungarian versions. For it, Gutfreund received the Buchman Prize from Yad Vashem in 2001 and the English translation was awarded with the Rohr Choice Award in the US in 2007. Amir Gutfreund’s lecture, as well as his newly published novel, combines his sense of humor with solemnity and respect for the subject.
Amir Gutfreund was born in Haifa in 1963 to Holocaust survivors. After studying applied mathematics at the Technion, he joined the Israeli Air Force where he worked for 20 years in mathematical research. He now lives with his three children in a small village in the northern Galilee.
The novel Our Holocaust is sensitive and humorous at the same time, as it deals with one of the most painful traumas of Israeli society. A seemingly autobiographic text, populated by dozens of historic as well as fictitious characters, describes in an unorthodox poetic language the horrors of the past that cast a long shadow over a whole generation of survivors.
www.e-garamond.cz / www.goethe.de/ins/cz/pra/ver/cs10006475v.htm
REUT REGEV - „R*TIME”
November 11, 2012, 8.00pm, Alterna, Brno /November 15, 2012, 9.00pm, Jazztime, Prague
Israeli trombonist, Reut Regev, will present herself to Prague and Brno audiences in November. She will be accompanied by Andrea Castelli on contrabass and bass guitar, and by her husband, Igal Foni, on the drums. The concerts form part of a tour organized on the occasion of the release of a new CD.
Born and raised in Israel, Reut Regev started shaping her impressive reputation on the jazz scene at a young age. At only five years old she was introduced to the piano, and then added the trombone to her repertoire at age thirteen. While in high school, she had the opportunity to play with some of Israel’s most creatively improvisational musicians, as well as perform at Israel’s top Jazz Festivals. After serving in Israel’s army band, Reut made her way to NYC and started performing at popular jazz clubs. Reut has been involved in many musical projects in various fields. Her collaborators include Anthony Braxton, Butch Morris, Frank London and many more. In 2004 the All About Jazz magazine picked Reut Regev as the ”hottest new talent”.
www.reutregev.com / www.jmw.cz/eshop.php?akce=kondetail&id=445
DRUNK MACHINE
November 12, Prague, Roxy Club
November 13, Jihlava, Chili Café Bar
November 14, Brno, Fléda Club
November 15, Písek, Pí local club
The alternative rock group Drunk Machine has become already quite popular in Israel. Mainly young audience likes their unorthodox lyrics and original musical style. The group embarked now on a European tour in order to show their art also to the audiences in these countries. Within this framework they will perform also in four Czech cities. The rock trio from Tel Aviv has found inspiration with the legends of the 1990s - Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Mudhoney. The band, coming from an Israeli desert, is often compared to another desert legend, Queens of the Stone Age.
THE SHUK – Days of Jewish Culture TEPLICKÝ CIMES 2012
November 22, 2012, Pilsen – information about the place and time will be published at www.unitos.cz
November 23, 2012, 8.30pm, Jazz Club Teplice
Israeli music group The Shuk will play at the Jazz Club Teplice during the Days of Jewish Culture. These internationally acclaimed musicians have performed in more than 30 countries. The Shuk creates a combination of different aspects of Israeli and Jewish music to excite and connect people of all backgrounds. They use not only concerts but also workshops and educational programs to reach this goal.
Besides concerts the band performs regularly at private events or weddings. Their repertoire is extraordinarily diverse, consisting of traditional, contemporary, folk, sacred, Israeli, Jewish, Middle-Eastern and world music.
MEZIPATRA
November 8 – 14, 2012, Prague / November 16 – 22, 2012, Brno
This year’s 13th Mezipatra Queer Film Festival will present within its program in Prague and Brno an Israeli documentary film The Invisible Men. The festival brings around a hundred top-ranking films on lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and queer themes, an international competition, exhibitions, discussions and workshop.
Yariv Mozer: The Invisible Men – Israel/2012/68 min
The Invisible Men tells the untold story of persecuted gay Palestinian who have run away from their families and are now hiding illegally in Tel Aviv. Their stories are told through the film's heroes: Louie, 32 years old, a gay Palestinian who has been hiding in Tel Aviv for the past 8 years; Abdu, 24 years old, who was exposed as gay in Ramallah and then accused of espionage and tortured by Palestinian security forces; Faris, 23 years old, who escaped to Tel Aviv from the West Bank after his family tried to kill him. Their only chance for survival is to seek asylum outside Israel and Palestine and leave their homelands forever behind.
Screenings of the film:
Prague - 13. 11. 2012, 8.30pm, Cinema Světozor – Big Hall
Brno - 20. 11. 2012, 6.30pm, Cinema Art – Big Hall
www.mozer-films.com / www.mezipatra.cz/en/
ELI FISCHER’S COLLECTION: ”Artists – Messengers of Peace”
September 13 – November 30, 2012, Czech Post Main Hall, Jindřišská 14, Prague
From September 13, 2012 The Czech Post is hosting a special exhibition of selected artworks from Dr. Fischer’s Art For Peace Collection coming from Tel Aviv, Israel, carrying the message of humanity.
When one hundred artists were asked to respond to the significant historical event of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in 1979 and created a groundbreaking collection of illustrated covers and envelopes, Dr. Eli Fischer and his wife Dvora, with deep understanding of the importance of such artistic output, decided to support the project. The collection Artists - Messengers of Peace was later expanded to include the work of children and other artists dealing with this topic. Since then, it has become a spearhead of goodwill, traveling around the world and sending a message dealing with the diverse conflicts and problems humanity faces with regards to its desire for peace and freedom.
The Art For Peace Collection includes works in all types of artistic media such as painting, sculpture and photography. It expresses topics of coexistence, the dream of peace, consequences of war and violence, values of mutual compromise and the contrast between destruction and despair and between peace and prosperity.
The exhibition curated by Doron Polak presents more than 50 replicas from the famous original large collection. It will be on display in the main hall of the Czech Post public office every day from 8am to 8pm until the end of November 2012. Admission is free. The originals from Artists - Messangers of Peace are going to be on exhibit in Prague in spring 2013.