We recruit the finest creative talent from the UK and Israel to develop new arts programmes that bring contemporary collaborations to audiences in both countries. Whatever the art form, we are always searching for the best emerging UK and Israeli artists for joint projects.
Through us, these artists establish creative links that lead to long-term collaborations and partnerships. We work with specialist teams in the UK and experts from our global arts network to connect the right people at the right time.
Read about some recent projects we have supported:
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British-Spanish artist filmmaker, Isabel Rocamora in Israel |
Rocamora, whose work considers the performative language of human gesture and its relationship to individual and cultural identity will visit Israel in March 2012. The visit is structured around the exhibition of the Rocamora’s video installation Body of War at Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art’s group show “Delimitations” and includes a gallery talk and a series of conferences/workshops at Minshar School of Art and at Hamidrasha Beit Berl.
Website: http://www.isabelrocamora.org/home.html http://www.herzliyamuseum.co.il/
Jerusalem-based dance house Machol Shalem welcomes renowned British director and choreographer Nigel Charnock, courtesy of the BIARTS grant. During his six-week stay in Israel, Charnock will be collaborating with famed Israeli dance artist Talia Paz and an ensemble of professional Israeli performers. The partnership will not only provide a cultural exchange between the UK and Israel, but it will culminate in a full evening dance program premiering at Machol Shalem and touring internationally, starting at the end of March 2012.
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Israeli Centre for Digital Art hostsYoHa Dou |
Matsuko Yokokoji are YoHa, they have lived and worked together since 1994. YoHa's graphic vision, technical tinkering, has powered several celebrated collaborations including Harwood and Yokokoji's co founding of the artists group Mongrel in (1996-2007) specialising in digital media and established the Mediashed a free-media lab in Southend-on-sea (2005-2008). Their collaborations explored the complex relationships between power, art and media in a globalized world. Using a socially active aesthetic, we connected spaces that included simultaneously the art gallery, public phone networks, the internet and the workshop. Creating various projects using 'free media', 'eco-media' and 'social telephony' with their most recent collective work ‘Tantalum Memorial’ winning the transmediale. 09 award in Berlin. The Israeli Center for Digital Art in Holon invited them to deliver workshops to local artists. It is YoHa’s first visit to Israel. 12-21 February, 2012
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Kit Downes Quintet at Levontin 7 |
Kit Downes is one of the most prolific young British musicians/composers working today. The quintet will arrive to Israel and deliver master classes and workshops to Israeli music students. The exchange of ideas, techniques and the "up-close" meeting of Israeli musicians with Kit Downes will benefit the artistic development and awareness to what is going on outside of Israel. Kit Downes will have 3 concerts at Levontin 7, Tel Aviv. 27 February - 1 March 2012
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Jerusalem International Film Lab |
The prestigious Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem will inaugurate the Jerusalem International Film Lab, a unique academic platform to train top talented young filmmakers and graduates to write full-length feature films. The BIARTS grant will support the arrival of Clare Downs as she contributes her expertise in script development and editing at various intervals throughout the creative process. Clare’s participation will conclude with a pitching presentation to an international panel jury at the Jerusalem Film Festival 2012, where two projects will be awarded production grants. Downs will be working with the Jerusalem International Film Lab from December 2011 until Summer 2012.
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Curious Minds Exhibition – Israel Museum |
The Israel Museum will be hosting Curious Minds: Design in the 21st Century, a 1000-square meter exhibition showcasing the most innovative and interesting design projects by over 25 designers from across Asia, Europe and the Americas. One of the themes of the show is Critical Design, a look at how to explore and bridge partnerships between design and seemingly unrelated fields, such as science and politics. The exhibition will be accompanied by a One Day International Design Conference at the Israel Museum and a two-day workshop at the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design. The visit of the UK designers Troika Studio, Studio Glithero, Freddie Yauner, Julian Bond, Raw Edges Design Studio, Alon Meron is supported by the BIARTS grant. The Curious Minds exhibit will be on at the Israel Museum from December 16, 2011 until April 30, 2012.
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Israeli Centre for Digital Art, Holon |
The BIARTS grant is supporting a cultural exchange program of artists from UK’s The Showroom and Holon’s The Centre for Digital Art. Israeli curators Ran Kasmy Ilan and Eyal Danon will be visiting London’s Church Street ward and then UK artists Emily Pethick and Louise Shelley will travel to the Jessy Cohen neighbourhood in Holon. Both arts institutes are devoted to endeavours that speak about and to their communities. The project not only exposes visiting artists to new communities and inspirations, but it aims to establish a strong artistic network and productive collaboration between the two groups of artists. The first leg of the exchange will start in December when Kasmy Ilan and Danon fly to London.
The Centre for Digital Art will also be welcoming the UK-based artistic group Mongrel to the Jessy Cohen neighbourhood in Holon. During their stay, Mongrel will meet with various artists, designers, students and citizens, examining the role of new media in shaping social processes. Through workshops, meetings, presentations and research, they will investigate how digital media can be used to enrich social relations and participation in community collaborations.
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SCRIPTED/NON-SCRIPTED – 5th Israel International Producers Conference |
Israel welcomes accomplished UK producers Peter Buckingham of the BFI and Stephen Lambert of Studio Lambert to participate in the 5th Israel International Producers Conference. With the recent signing of the co-production treaty between Israel and UK, Buckingham and Lambert are coming at the perfect time to offer their knowledge and experience to what will become a vital cultural exchange. Master classes and workshops will provide established and emerging Israeli producers the understanding to create future masterpieces. Buckingham and Lambert’s arrival are supported by the BIARTS grant. The 5th Israel International Producers Conference will run from December 11-12, 2011.
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Faroque Khan at Hayadit Theatre, Pardess Hanna-Karkur |
BIARTS grant supports the arrival of British performer and theatre director, Faroque Khan to Pardess Hanna-Karkur to collaborate with Hayadit Theatre. Khan, the artistic director of Theatre Insaan in Glasgow, will deliver two workshops which are based on the title and meaning of 'Messengers'; exploring the potential of creativity within the individual and his capacity of expression in an ensemble, in a dynamic and functioning theatrical context. The workshops will take place on December 22nd -27th .
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Art and Cultural Programme JCC for London |
The JCC for London has commissioned an event to present to the British public the exciting and unique video work to come out of Israel. Video and installation artists Gilad Ratman, Tali Navon and Shuli Nachson have been invited to showcase their works, discussing identity, ritual, family, food and prayer. The video screenings will be followed by a question and answer period that will enable the audience to interact with the three artists and discuss their inspirations, mediums and methods. The evening will close with a live set from DJ Kojak. The art and cultural programme will take place on November 30th, 2011.
Israeli artists Gilad Ratman and Shuli Nachson will also be presenting workshops at the Arbeit Gallery in London. Ratman will be lecturing and leading a discussion called Avoiding Truth: Questions about the Impossibility of Documentation. Nachson will present two screenings and lead a discussion entitled Allesalle 2011. Both workshops will be presented on December 2, 2011.
The BIARTS grant is supporting the arrival of all three Israeli artists.
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Israeli curators to create connections with UK artists |
Outset Israel in collaboration with Outset UK is initiating a research trip of Israeli curators and museum directors to London this November with the support of BIARTS grant and in collaboration with Sapir College and Bezalel Academy of Art and Design.
This research trip will facilitate connections and collaborations between Israeli curators and the British art scene. It will provide a valuable opportunity to further develop relationships formed last year when international curators were hosted in Israel by Outset. Another trip of international curators to Israel will take place in January 2012 and will hosted by Outset.
The research trip includes the following curators:
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Naomi Aviv I independent curator, won the Curator Prize for 2011 given by the Ministry of Culture |
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Dr Roy Brand I director and chief curator / Jaffa 23, Jerusalem |
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Ory Dessau I young independent curator, curator of the 3rd Herzliya Biennial/Art TLV (October 2011) |
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Drorit Gur-Arie I director and chief curator / Petach Tikva Museum of Contemporary Art |
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Rula Khoury I young independent curator |
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Dr Aya Lurie I director and chief curator / the Shpilman Institute for Photography |
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Nirith Nelson I art director / the Jerusalem Center for the Visual Arts (JCVA) and advisor to the Jerusalem Foundation |
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Noam Segal I curator and artistic director / Rothschild 69 art space and content editor / Programma Magazine |
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Yaniv Shapira I curator / Ein Harod Museum of Art, Kibbutz Ein Harod |
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Dr Sarit Shapira I prominent independent curator and collection curator of Igal Ahuvi Art Collection |
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Danna Taggar-Heller I young independent curator and initiator of IKT congress to Israel |
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Dr Raphael Zagury Orly I head of Bezalel MFA programme |
The Israeli curators will meet leading British curators of prominent museums such as Tate, Whitechapel Gallery, ICA, curators working in a not-for-profit spaces such as South London Gallery, Camden Arts Centre, Chisenhale Gallery, Drawing Room, as well as artists working in London.
The selected committee included; Vered Gadish/ director of Outset Contemporary Art Fund in Israel, Dalia Levin/ director of Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Edna Moshenson/ prominent curator and Michal Gitnik-Permont/ Arts Manager at the British Council in Israel
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Israeli film maker will partipate Oska Bright Film Festival |
The Israeli film maker Eldar Yusupov will receive a BIARTS grant to travel to Brighton in the UK to screen his film in the Oska Bright Film Festival. It is the biggest celebration in the world of film and digital media made by people with learning disabilities. Screenings of over 100 international short films, master classes, meetings and competitions, as well as a launch of a new digital media project: Digital Me. Oska Bright is planned and managed by a team of people with learning disabilities, passionate about the role film can play in expressing their artistic abilities. 22-24th November 2011.
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UK Festival of Jewish Film to host Israeli film makers |
The UK Jewish Film promotes awareness of international Jewish life and cultures for an inclusive audience. It also provides a dynamic, ongoing forum for independent film-makers working with Jewish themes. This year the festival will feature 32 Israeli films. Participants at the festival can attend master classes hosted by Sasson Gabai, Shlomi Eldar and Yael Perlov, who are travelling to the event courtesy of a BIARTS grants.
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British Guest at the International Women's Film Festival |
The annual International Women's Film Festival will open on 7th November in Rehovot. More than 60 films will be screened, all directed by women. This year the themes of the festival are: women and revolution, and violence against women - especially sexual violence. Rachel Millward, Director of Bird's Eye View Women's film festival in the UK, will be on the jury of the film competition, participating in the festival's activities and attending the first conference of the Israeli women film makers forum. Her arrival is supported by a BIARTS grant.
The performer and physical comedian Les Bubb will headline the 7th International Pantomime festival, in Shefar-Am between the 13th and the 15th of October 2011. He will perform at the opening of the festival on the 13th and hold two additional performances on the 14th and 15th, as well as hold master classes for children and students.
Les Bubb started performing at the National Youth Theatre and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in the early eighties. Training continued at the Desmond Jones school of mime in London, and in Paris with Phillipe Gaulier (Le Coq) and Etienne Decroux. After sharpening his skills on the streets of Europe he played his short act “Make your brains go POP! “ at UK festivals and became a regular of the ‘alternative’ comedy scene at venues like Jongleurs In London.
Following came two full length theatre shows: Sonata in Dream Major in 1987 and Another Fine Mess in 1989/90 .He quickly became popular with his unique blend of mime and contemporary clowning, joining the new wave of alternative comedy with contemporaries Ben Elton, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, Lenny Henry and Harry Enfield, supporting them LIVE in theatres across the UK, and taking the TV shows Max Headroom and Friday Live by storm!
Since then Les has been travelling the world both with his full length theatre show and his cabaret/variety act, winning awards in many performing arts festivals.
From 1997 to 2002 Les starred in and co-wrote the young peoples series HUBUBB for BBC 1, which extended to five series, making his distinctive surreal humour popular to a whole new generation.
Les continues to travel the world working both in television, the corporate and commercial sector, comedy festivals and at a theatre near you!
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Peter Greenaway's Heavy Water Exhibition |
Ground breaking British director and multi-disciplinary artist Peter Greenaway presents Heavy Water - a new exhibition opened on the 22nd of October, and a series of events hosted by the Chelouche Gallery for Contemporary Art. Photos from Peter Greenaway's visit at Chelouche Gallery
Greenaway's HEAVY WATER project consists of an Exhibition at Chelouche Gallery for Contemporary Art, a film retrospective at Tel Aviv Cinematheque and a VJ Show at Hangar 11.
The exhibition "Heavy Water" at Chelouche Gallery for Contemporary Art opened on the 22nd of October and will be open for six weeks. It includes Greenaway's paintings and projections, dealing with the concept of “Heavy Water” – a poetic statement to be taken almost literarily in some cases. The exhibition is a theatrical presentation always sympathetic to its location, using every conceivable device to further the ideas that the exhibition hopes to contemplate. Greenaway gave workshops to Israeli art students at the gallery.
Associated theatrical event is Greenaway’s VJ show Heavy Water - based on the same thematic materials as in the exhibition,at Hangar 11, Tel Aviv.
The events are supported by the British Israeli Arts Training Scheme (BI ARTS) a British Council initiative in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and Sport in Israel.
We have worked extensively in the field of film. In 2009-10 a collaboration between the Script Factory from the UK and the Israel Film Fund created a pool of script and story editors in Israel through a process of training and workshops. The training also strengthened contacts between the film industries in both countries.
The workshops we developed together have helped film industry professionals from many disciplines to develop their skills and establish professional contacts in the UK film industry. Katriel Schori, Director, Israel Film Fund
The work we have done in film has supported active collaboration between Israeli and British producers, directors and film makers throughout the years, helping to pave the way for the co-production treaty. In 2011 we will seek ways to breathe life into the treaty through training for film makers.
Supported by BI ARTS Bezalel developed long-term contacts and fostered collaborations with leading British arts schools, artists, curators and researchers, exposing current British art to the Israeli art scene and vice versa. BI ARTS supported visits of experts from the UK who came to Israel for a series of lectures and studio/gallery, exploring possibilities for future artists’ exchanges between Israel and the UK.
BI ARTS was a key partner in helping develop the international aspect of the MFA programme in Bezalel through an exchange of experience and expertise.
There continues to be a fruitful exchange and dialogue between Bezalel and British institutions such as Glasgow School of Art, Edinburgh School of Art and Goldsmith College.
The BI ARTS programme supported an exchange between the Habima National Theatre in Israel and the Royal Theatre in the UK involving playwrights, artistic directors and dramaturges from both theatres. The first stage comprised Israeli plays performed by the NT’s actors for the first time at the National Theatre. The theme was political drama.
In addition to the stage reading, there were panel discussions and lectures with Israeli playwrights, directors, actors and other artists from British theatre, in which academics and media also participated. The discussions centered on Israeli theatre and the connection between the plays and the political-social reality in which they were written.
The second stage took place in Israel with the visit of the director of the National Theatre and British playwrights. Their plays were read in a festival in Tel Aviv, performed by Israeli actors and accompanied by panel discussions and professional sessions for the theatre scene.
The play reading of the Israeli political plays in London and the British political plays in Tel Aviv enabled audiences from both Israel and the UK to better understand the current burning issues which are of concern to the theatre world in both countries.
(Arts and disability)
The British Council played a key role in the establishment of this relationship which culminated in the performance of Nalagaat at the London International Theatre Festival. This was the result of a process of trust building through an exchange of visits, expertise and ideas.
The British Council encouraged both partners to apply to BI ARTS to support them with the professional development programme. Improbable introduced Nalagaat to LIFT and it was the first opportunity the Israeli company had to be engaged with the UK.
This project helped raise the profile of the deaf and blind communities and positively influenced the way that they are perceived; breaking down the barriers that often leave these individuals feeling extremely isolated and disconnected.
This successful collaboration inspired further discussions and meetings about future collaboration between the two companies.
BI ARTS funded a series of visits of professionals from the British theatre world to deliver workshops to theatre graduates and helped establish the Stage Centre as a professional centre for artists.
The British Council, through BI ARTS, provided the kind of support vital for a fledgling organisation. They helped us to identify partners and artists, and gave us backing that inspired confidence in other organisations to give us a try. Five years on, the Stage Centre is so successful that we are developing a series of workshops lead by Israeli artists in the UK. Rivi Feldmesser, Director, Stage Centre
Musicians from Beit Almusica, Shfaram were guests of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and participated in a series of workshops and master classes culminating in a joint performance. Subsequently, the British students were guests at Shfarham. They participated in a series of master classes and also gave an unforgettable joint musical performance.
The project was very successful artistically and musically. It was a great opportunity to know first hand about the Guildhall School, which is one of the most prominent cultural institutions in England. It also gave us an opportunity to present our Arab Palestinian culture as citizens of Israel. We believe that the dialogue between cultures that started in London should be continued as it gives peoples the opportunity to get closer together. Amer Nakhle, Director, Beit Almusica
BI ARTS has engaged artists and institutions in Israel and the UK and played a key role in enabling a dialogue and connection between the two contemporary music scenes. For example, the Digital Art Lab in Holon, Musrara College in Jerusalem and the Sonic Art Research Centre, the Queen’s University of Belfast, the Contempo Festival in Tel Aviv, the Levontine Club in Tel Aviv, the Uganda Club in Jerusalem.
Through an exchange of visits and participation in festivals, some interesting collaborations have developed between the Israeli and British contemporary music scenes and for the first time we can see Israelis participating in the international scene, where London is the cultural leader. BI ARTS enabled Israeli artists to take part in the international scene in real time.
New music students in colleges are constantly exposed to British music and it has become part of the curriculum. Through the visits of British musicians and professionals, the students obtain educational and cultural input which is relevant to their future careers.
Some of the visits of cutting edge Israeli musicians achieved media coverage in the most prestigious new music magazines in the UK. This changed people’s perceptions of Israeli new musicians.
Photo: Robert Hylton by Irven Lewis.
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