Reviving Arad with Eldad Menuchin

January 8, 2010 - 7:48 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Pop Culture, Travel 

The city of Arad is a sort of forgotten footnote in Israel’s history. Today, the selective and short memory of people living in Israel’s populous center associate Arad mainly with an annual festival of Israeli music. They forget, or worse perhaps, do not even know about Ben Gurion’s vision for Arad as a gateway to the Negev region, a center for industry and tourism because of its clean air, purportedly free of allergens and asthma-inducing pollens.

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Photographer Eldad Menuchin does remember. As a child, his family spent summer vacations in Arad.

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As an adult, he returned to Arad to create a series of images that capture perfectly the stultifying stillness of a summer afternoon as the city bakes underneath the hot desert sun.

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But Menuchin’s work also depicts a city in steady decline since July 18, 1995 when a tragic event — in which three young persons were crushed to death by the festival crowd — tarnished the city’s reputation and deprived Arad of an important source of income.

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The circumstances of what has come to be known in Israel as The Arad Catastrophe, were as follows: in May 1995, two months prior to the festival, pop group Mashina announced they were breaking up and Arad would be their farewell concert. On the day of the concert, thousands of teens began crowding the gate leading into the open-air concert venue. The fence caved in during the performance of warm-up act Tea-packs and two young men were killed instantly. A third young woman died in hospital a few days later.

At the time, then-President Ezer Weizman blamed the horrific event on “the Americanization washing over us… Israel must beware of McDonalds, we must beware of Michael Jackson, we must beware of the Madonnas.”

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In fact, as official investigation later revealed, the parties at fault were the organizers who oversold tickets, did not open additional gates, and did not have a security officer present on the grounds. In addition, the police deployed an insufficient number of personnel — just 54 officers, according to the Wikipedia entry (in Hebrew) about the tragedy. Well, it wasn’t the first or the last time Weizman got things completely wrong.

The festival experienced something of a revival this past year when sponsorship taken over by mobile phone company Cellcom which renamed it Volume Arad — an attempt, it would seem, to break with the past, and hopefully bring the crowds back to the city.

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Foto Friday – Pearls of Music at Azrieli contest

May 29, 2009 - 11:55 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Pop Culture 

With so many top-flight orchestras and musicians, Israeli is a feast for lovers of classical music and folklore That population is well-served by Pninei HaMuzika or Pearls of Music, a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing Israeli and international artists – in variety of musical styles: baroque, classical music, liturgical music, jazz, Klezmer, Irish, Balkan, gypsy, country and other folk music, flamenco, as well as children plays — through festivals and concert series. Pearls of Music selects unique venues, from Jerusalem’s Ticho House, churches, monasteries, and caves, to, in this case, the stark modernity of the Azrieli Center, which will serve as the backdrop for a unique photo competition.

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The contest, which was just announced this week, offers music loving photographers the opportunity to participate in a competition that combines music with the urban landscape of the Azrieli Center Amphitheater, an open-air venue located on the third floor rooftop of the Azrieli Mall, at the base of the Center’s towers.

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This year, the Amphitheater will host a series of festive summer concerts, presented by Pearls of Music, kicking off on June 11 with Celtic Fire, a celebration Irish music and dance – yes, that’s them looking like Riverdance — followed on June 20 by the Latino-Argentino Ensemble featuring Natan Formansky who, together with Israeli tenor Yotam Kohen, will perform Latin American songs on acoustic guitars and and exotic instruments. celtic-fire-sm“Brazilian Carnival” an evening of Samba, Salsa, Bosa Nova, Lambada and Capoeira, happens on July 4; an evening of Viennese dance music – from the waltz to the polka – with harp, flute and orchestra on July 24; Israeli folklore on August 13; Jazz, Blues & Swing on August 29; and others to be announced. The series of concerts runs from June 11 to September 25, and tickets can be ordered via the Pearls of Music website.

Now, as to the competition. Check out this trippy pic. Clearly there is plenty of room for improvement and I guess Photoshopping is allowed!
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It is sponsored by the Geographical Photography College, Azrieli Malls and Pearls of Music. Participating photographers will be allowed to enter eight of the 11 concerts, with entry limited to six photographers per performance, to take pictures before during and after the show. (Two photographers per performance will be GPC students). Photos will be judged for quality and originality, as well as fidelity to the competition theme “Pearls of Music at Azrieli”. The winning photos will go on display in October at the Azrieli Center gallery. Winners will receive a free subscription to the 2010 Pearls of Music summer concert series, and runners up will receive a course in photography at the GPC.

Interested photographers should contact Giora Shalmi of the Geographical Photography College at: giora@gpc.co.il.

CREDITS: The top two photographs come courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. The latter two are courtesy of Pearls of Music.

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