Culture of Israel
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Israeli culture", is inseparable from long history of Judaism and Jewish history which preceded it (i.e. dated earlier than the Israeli Declaration of Independence, on May 14 1948) and from the local (Palestine/Land of Israel) traditions. However, this article concerns only the cultural aspects of the modern Israeli state.
Background
With a population drawn from more than one hundred countries on six continents, Israeli society is rich in cultural diversity and artistic creativity. The arts are actively encouraged and supported by the government. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra performs throughout the country and frequently tours abroad. The Jerusalem Symphony, an orchestra associated with the Israel Broadcasting Authority, also tours frequently as do other musical ensembles. Almost every municipality has a chamber orchestra or ensemble, many boasting the talents of gifted performers arrived in the 1990s from the countries of the former Soviet Union.Folk dancing, which draws upon the cultural heritage of many immigrant groups, is very popular. Israel also has several professional ballet and modern dance companies. There is great public interest in the theatre; the repertoire covers the entire range of classical and contemporary drama in translation, as well as plays by Israeli authors.
Of the three major repertory companies, the most famous, Habimah, was founded in 1917.
Arts and media
Although artist colonies in Safed, Jaffa, and Ein Hod have faded in numbers and importance since the 1960s, Israeli painters and sculptors continue to exhibit and sell their works worldwide.Tel Aviv, Hertzelia, and Jerusalem have excellent art museums, and many towns and kibbutzim have smaller high-quality museums. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem houses the Dead Sea Scrolls along with an extensive collection of Jewish religious and folk art. The Museum of the Diaspora is located on the campus of Tel Aviv University.
Israelis are avid newspaper readers. Israeli papers have an average daily circulation of 600,000 copies. Major daily papers are in Hebrew, Arabic, English and Russian. Other in French, Polish, Yiddish, Russian, Hungarian, and German.
Poetry and literature
Noted poets
- Hayyim Nahman Bialik
- Nathan Alterman
- Uri Zvi Greenberg
- Shaul Tchernichovsky
- Avraham Shlonsky
- Leah Goldberg
- Avraham Stern
- Yehuda Amichai
- Nathan Zach
- David Avidan
- Yona Wallach
- Rachel (poet)
- Dahlia Ravikovitch
- Aharon Shabtai
Prose authors
- Shmuel Yosef Agnon (winner of the Nobel prize for literature in 1966)
- Aharon Appelfeld
- David Grossman
- Ram Oren
- Amos Oz
- Meir Shalev
- Moshe Shamir
- A. B. Yehoshua
- Dan Tsalka
- Etgar Keret
Fine Arts
- Nahum Gutman
- Yigal Tomarkin
- Dani Karavan
- Yaakov Agam
- Reuven (painter)
- Menashe Kadishman
- Mordecai Ardon
- Meir Pichhadze
Museums
More than 200 museums are operating in Israel with millions of visitors annually.Jerusalem
Major museums in Jerusalem are:- The Israel Museum
- The Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem
- The Ticho House
- The L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art
- The Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem
- The Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem, Israel's Holocaust memorial
Tel Aviv
Major museums in Tel Aviv are:- The Tel Aviv Museum of Art
- The Eretz Israel Museum near Ramat Aviv
- Beit Hatefutsot (The Diaspora Museum), located on the Tel Aviv University campus
- Beit Hapalmach near Ramat Aviv
- Museum of the History of Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Independence Hall
- The Etzel Museum on the seashore
Haifa
Major museums in Haifa are:- The Haifa Museum
- The Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art
- The National Maritime Museum
- The Hecht museum
- The National Museum of Science in the old Technion building
- The Railway Museum
Music
See main article: Music of Israel.Israeli music is very versatile and combines elements of both western and eastern music. It tends to be very eclectic and contains a wide variety of influences from the Diaspora and more modern cultural importation: Hassidic songs, Asian and Arab pop, especially by Yemenite singers, and israeli hip hop or heavy metal.
Israel is also home to several world-class classical music ensembles such as the Israel Philharmonic, the New Israeli Opera and others.
Dance
The traditional folk dance of Israel is the Hora, originally an Eastern European circle dance.Modern dance in Israel is a flourishing field, and several Israeli choreographers such as Ohad Naharin are considered to be among the most versatile and original international creators working today. Famous Israeli companies include the Batsheva Dance Company and the Bat-Dor Dance Company.
Film and theatre
Repertory theater companies
- Habima National Theater, Tel Aviv
- HaKameri, Tel Aviv
- Beit Lessin, Tel Aviv
- Gesher, Jaffa, Tel Aviv
- HaKhan, Jerusalem
- Haifa Theater
- Beer Sheba Theater
Filmmakers
- Boaz Davidson - Eskimo Limon
- Assi Dayan - Givat Halfon Eina Ona (Halfon Hill does not respond), The life according to Agfa, A Whale in Sharton beach
- Eytan Fox - Yossi & Jagger, Walk on Water
- Amos Gitay - Kadosh, Kedma, Alila
- Dover Kosashvili - Late Marriage
- Elia Suleiman - Divine Intervention, Chronicle of a Disappearance and Cyber Palestine
- Uri Zohar - Lul, Metzitzim (Peeping Toms), Hor Ba-Levana (A hole in the moon)
Playwrights
- Hanoch Levin Bathtub Queen, Hefetz.
- Nissim Aloni
- Yehoshua Sobol
- Hillel Mittelpunkt - A Guide For A Visitor To Warsaw
- Edna Mazia - Herodes
- Avraham Shlonsky Utz Li Gutz Li.
- Anat Gov
Actors
- Chaim Topol - Salah Shabati, James Bond.
- Yael Abecassis - Kadosh, Alila.
- Gila Almagor -
- Mili Avital -
- Arik Einstein - Lul, Metzitzim.
- Ze'ev Revach Charlie Ve'hetzi, Hagiga B'Snuker
- Yehuda Barkan
Comedy and satire
- Hagashash Hachiver
- Ephraim Kishon
- Ephraim Sidon
- Orna Banay
- Eli Yatzpan
- Tuvya Tzafir
- Tal Friedman
- Shaike Ofir
- Zehu Ze band
- Shlomo Barabba
- Eli & Mariano
See also
- List of Israelis
- List of Israeli musical artists
- Music of Israel
- List of Hebrew language poets
- List of Hebrew language authors
- List of Israeli actors
- List of Hebrew language playwrights
- Science and technology in Israel
- Israeli art students
- Religion in Israel
- Jewish ethnic divisions
- Secular Jewish culture
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