Israel: Arts and Culture

General Information

Israel is home to world-renowned art, dance, and design schools, as well as theater troops, an opera house, and internationally acclaimed authors. With a population largely comprised of immigrants, Israeli society has absorbed and adopted many ethnic cultural and social influences from over 100 different countries.

In an effort to promote the arts and celebrate the diversity of cultures, artistic development and creativity are actively supported by the Israeli government. For example, old neighborhoods of Jerusalem, Jaffa, and Safed, as well as Ein Hod in the Carmel mountains near Haifa, have been restored as artists’ colonies, where a number of artists live, work, and sell their creations to tourists and visitors. Among other, smaller, less renowned musical ensembles, the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra performs frequently throughout the country, as well as on tours abroad, and the Batsheva Dance Company exhibits innovations in modern dance worldwide.

The State of Israel supports an extensive array of museums around the country, whose collections range from religious, artistic, and historical, to national significance. A few such museums include the Israel Museum, Museum on the Seam, the Bible Lands Museum, the Islamic Art Museum, the Diaspora Museum, and Yad Vashem, a museum and memorial to the Holocaust.

Israel has a number of schools for professional training in artistic industries, including its first school of the arts, the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. Bearing the name of the first artist mentioned in the Bible, Bezalal Ben Uri, the establishment of the Bezalel Academy in 1906 was considered the first major milestone in the historical development of Israeli art. While the first works that emerged from Bezalel were of traditional Jewish and Biblical significance, a separate, Diaspora-motivated, art movement that was disassociated from the religious artistic tradition emerged and flourished more recently. This movement sought to depict the landscape and local people of the country, and identified as ‘Hebrew,’ rather than Jewish artists. Bezalel is now the leading academy for art and design in Israel and is located in Jerusalem.1

Israel also promotes a number of performing arts troupes, including theater, dance, and musical ensembles that were established in the years before the State. The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1936, has played as the Israeli national orchestra since its inception, and hosts renowned conductors and musicians from around the world. The orchestra performs at its home auditorium, Heikhal Ha-Tarbut, in Tel Aviv, as well as abroad.

The Theater industry in Israel consists of a variety of small and large theater groups of different genres, styles, and origins. The Bima Theater and The Kameri Theater are the two largest theater companies in Israel. The Bima Theater originated in Russia, but has been considered Israel’s national theater company since before the establishment of the State. The Kameri Theater was initially established to offer a local alternative to The Bima Theater, with younger actors, contemporary subjects, and a more Hebrew-friendly, Israeli style, as compared with the traditionally Eastern-European style of The Bima Theater.

Israeli dance troupes have received significant recognition in recent years, and also perform around Israel and abroad. Three of the larger dance troupes include the Israeli Ballet, the Bat Sheva (modern dance) company, and the Kibbutz Dance Company. Information about each of the aforementioned theaters, orchestras, and dance companies can be found in the links below.

Looking at Israel: Culture and Leisure
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts%20About%20Israel/
Looking%20at%20Israel/Looking%20at%20Israel-%20Culture%20and%20Leisure

Looking at Israel: Culture
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/facts%20about%20israel/culture/

Culture in Israel – On the cusp of the millennium
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2000/6/Culture+in+Israel-+On+the+Cusp+of+the+Millennium.htm

Looking at Israel: People
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts%20About%20Israel/
Looking%20at%20Israel/Looking%20at%20Israel-%20People

Israeli Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Leisure
http://www.goisrael.com/Tourism_Eng/Tourist+Information
/Culture+and+Leisure/Arts.htm

Additional Links for cultural resources in Israel, courtesy of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

CULTURE AND THE ARTS
Facts About Israel: Culture
ACUM - Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel
Beit Hagefen - Arab/Jewish Cultural Center
"Eshkolot" - The Israeli Artists' Company for Performers' Rights Ltd.
Omanut Laam
Israeli Culture About.com
InterArt Israel
The Israeli Virtual Gallery

ART AND MUSEUMS
Museums in Israel
Museums in Haifa
Israel Art Guide - Events
Museums in Jerusalem
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
The Rockefeller Archaeological Museum
Ticho House
Virtual visit to the Israel Museum
The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
Beit Hatefutsot Museum of the Diaspora
Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem
Bloomfield Science Museum, Jerusalem
The Chagall Windows - (Hadassah - Jerusalem)
Ein Hod Artists' Village
Eretz Israel Museum
Ghetto Fighters' House - Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum
Haifa Museum of Art
The Heder Art Gallery & Architecture - Tel Aviv
Israel Art Guide
Israel National Museum of Science - Haifa
Israel Painters and Sculptors Association
Jerusalem Archaeological Park
Joe Alon Center - Museum of Bedouin Culture
L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art
Memorial Museum of Hungarian Jewry
Museum of Art Ein Harod (Mishkan LeOmanut)
Museum of Regional and Mediterranean Archaeology
Museum on the Seam
U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art
National Maritime Museum
Reuben and Edith Hecht Museum - Haifa University
Rockefeller Archaeological Museum
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art
The Tower of David Museum
Yad Vashem - Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority

DANCE
Israel Dance Companies
Bat-Dor Dance Company
Eskesta Dance Company
Haifa Ballet Dance Center
Inbal Dance Theater
Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company
Mechola Jerusalem Dance Company
Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre
Tararam
Yaron Margolin Dance Company

FILM
Haifa Cinemateque (Hebrew)
Israeli Film Catalog
Israel Film Fund
Jerusalem Cinematheque
Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive (Hebrew University)
Jewish Film Archive Virtual Cinema

LITERATURE
The Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature
Shireshet - Israeli poetry on-line (Hebrew)

MUSIC
Israel Music Institute
Israel Andalusian Orchestra
Israel Kibbutz Orchestra
Israel Northern Symphony Haifa
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra
Jerusalem Center for the Performing Arts
Jerusalem Music Center
New Israeli Opera
Israeli Music Online
Israel Audio and Music Sites
Mooma - Israeli popular music (Hebrew)
RadioHazak - Israeli popular music

THEATER
Acco Theater Center
Beit Lessin (Hebrew)
Beit Hagefen - Arab/Jewish Cultural Center
Cameri Theatre (Hebrew)
Clipa Theater
Gesher Theater
Givatayaim Theater
Habima Theater (Hebrew)
Haifa Municipal Theater (Hebrew)
Jerusalem Center for the Performing Arts
JEST - Jerusalem English Speaking Theater
Jerusalem Khan Theatre (Hebrew)
Light Opera Group of the Negev (LOGON)
The Train Theater
Yiddishpiel

ARCHAEOLOGY

1 Israeli Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Leisure, http://www.goisrael.com/Tourism_Eng/Tourist+Information
/Culture+and+Leisure/Arts.htm