Israel Festival

May 27, 2019, 5:47 pm

This year’s Israel Festival dares audiences to challenge artistic boundaries

Two-week event begins May 30, with a jam-packed schedule of local premieres and visiting troupes aimed at stretching the imagination

By Jessica Steinberg

The Cullberg Ballet of Sweden will perform at the 2019 Israel Festival, May 30-June 15, 2019 (Courtesy Cullberg Ballet)

April 1, 2019, 5:50 pm

58th Israel Festival is where identities and dialogue meet

A stream of culture arrives in Jerusalem at end of May with 58th Israel Festival, featuring performers from home and abroad, and events ranging from classical to multi-disciplinary

By Jessica Steinberg

Massive murals amid the gritty urban landscape of Jerusalem's Talpiot industrial zone formed the background for Hiphopland, an opening event for Israel Festival 2018 (Courtesy Jessica Steinberg)

May 24, 2018, 8:23 am

Speaking out at Hiphopland, the Israel Festival opening event

Rappers, poets and hip-hop artists unite in an evening dedicated to identity, in the gritty surroundings of Jerusalem’s Talpiot neighborhood

By Jessica Steinberg

Portuguese theater director Tiago Rodrigues (YouTube screenshot)

May 21, 2018, 11:42 am

Portuguese director drops out of Israel Festival over treatment of Palestinians

Tiago Rodrigues says he cannot allow his work to condone a government that ‘deliberately violates human rights,’ claims IDF massacred dozens of civilians in Gaza border protests

By AP and TOI staff

Taking an autovisual journey with Rimini Protokoll as part of the Israel Festival 2018 (Courtesy Mike Vonotkov)

May 17, 2018, 1:38 pm

At Israel Festival, a journey through Jerusalem as performance art

Two visiting teams of artists offer their own take on the city’s urban landscape with theatrical walking tours

By Jessica Steinberg

A scene from '10000 Gestures' by Boris Charmatz, who will bring his work to the 2018 Israel Festival (Courtesy Tristram Kenton)

March 27, 2018, 4:39 pm

2018 Israel Festival looks at renewal as Israel celebrates its 70th

Three weeks of culture at Jerusalem’s annual event bring concerts, plays and performances to the capital from all over

By Jessica Steinberg

Shamel Pitts (right) and Mirelle Martins in their work, 'Black Velvet,' which features some nudity and is being performed as part of Jerusalem International Dance Week (Courtesy Shamel Pitts and Mirelle Martins)

November 30, 2017, 7:10 pm

As Culture Ministry tsks at nudity, Jerusalem’s Dance Week takes off

Government wants to make sure viewing public knows unclothed performances are being staged without its funding

By Jessica Steinberg

Jerusalem Jazz Festival director and trumpeter Avishai Cohen (left) at the 2015 festival (Courtesy Jerusalem Jazz Festival)

November 28, 2017, 6:13 pm

Third Jerusalem Jazz Festival bebops into town for 3 days

Local and international performers gather to perform and jam in the galleries of the Israel Museum

By Jessica Steinberg

Israeli Yemeni sister trio A-WA will be performing at TLV in LDN. (tlvinldn/Instagram)

September 5, 2017, 6:44 am

Everything but the heat: Tel Aviv hits London streets for four days only

Celebration opens September 8 and will feature food, concerts, art exhibitions and a beach party, among other festivities

By Anne Joseph

Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev speaks during a ceremony at the Knesset, April 26, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

June 9, 2017, 4:39 am

The culture minister doesn’t want nudity in art shows, but creators are defiant

Although Miri Regev has not taken any significant steps, some fear just the threat could stifle freedom of expression

By Andrew Tobin

A woman, center, strips down to her bra in a show of protest to Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev during the opening of the Israeli Film Festival in Jerusalem, June 1, 2017. (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

June 1, 2017, 10:37 pm

Uproar at Israel Festival opening as culture minister jeered over nudity ban

Protester strips down to her bra, audience turn their backs as Miri Regev takes to the stage to make opening remarks for top arts event

By Jessica Steinberg and AFP

Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev participates in a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee on November 30, 2016 (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

June 1, 2017, 4:52 pm

Full frontal and a repeat offender

Hebrew-language press covers the latest scandals: a minister afraid of the corrupting power of nudity, and another who is suspected of fraud, again

By Tamar Pileggi

Culture Minister Miri Regev speaks with the press before the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister Office in Jerusalem on May 7, 2017. (Emil Salman/Pool/Flash90)

June 1, 2017, 4:01 pm

Culture minister says state won’t fund shows with nudity

In letter to director of film festival, Miri Regev writes nakedness ‘harmful’ to Israel ‘as a Jewish and democratic state’

By AFP

Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev speaks during a conference in Jerusalem, February 13, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

June 1, 2017, 2:15 pm

Regev booed at festival she threatened to defund over nudity

PA official says Israel agrees to expand Palestinian power in parts of West Bank; Trump rejects moving embassy to Jerusalem; Palestinian town won’t rename center honoring terrorist

By Tamar Pileggi

Screenshot from the teaser of the 2017 Israel Festival (Screen capture: YouTube)

May 31, 2017, 4:24 am

Nudity and neon lights at annual Israel Festival

Director Eyal Sher says 56-year-old arts event, which runs June 1-8, is not government approved despite government funding

By Andrew Tobin