WHISTLES, CHEERS, stamping of feet and thunderous applause are not usually the
sounds one hears in a museum. But then again, you don't always get one of the
world’s leading exponents of flamenco singing performing in front of a largely
Spanish-speaking audience that is familiar with both his reputation and his art.
Thus when
Jose Merce, considered to be one of the best singers in his field over
the past century, came to perform at the Israel Museum within the framework of
the 25th anniversary celebrations of diplomatic ties with Spain, the audience,
which included a large representation from the Spanish Embassy, went
wild.
Merce said he was thrilled to be performing in Jerusalem. Most of
his songs were performed in a sitting position, but in the second half of his
act he also danced, to the delight of the appreciative crowd.
According
to both museum director
James Snyder and Spanish Ambassador
Alvaro Gutierrez,
there will be further cooperation between the museum and the Spanish Embassy
next year. Snyder disclosed plans for an exhibition based on Joan Miro’s
“Spanish Dancer” series with works from the Israel Museum’s collection enhanced
by paintings borrowed from museums around the world.
Gutierrez also noted
the enormous popularity that flamenco singers enjoy in Israel and suggested that
it may have something to do with the Israelis’ Sephardic roots.
■
COMMENTING ON the latest Knesset quirk that enables MKs who earn eight times
more than the minimum wage to work less for their salaries by extending the
Knesset’s summer recess period by two weeks, Israel Radio’s
Arye Golan said that
perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if those MKs who persist in proposing
anti-democratic laws stayed away from the Knesset for even longer.
■
CHANNEL 1 Mabat news anchor
Yinon Magal returned to the small screen this week
after a brief absence caused by the birth of his third son.The circumcision
ceremony for the youngest addition to the family was last Saturday in the
synagogue of the Prima Royal hotel in Jerusalem. After the service Magal and his
wife entertained some 70 relatives and friends to a royal breakfast.
■
THE APPLE doesn't fall far from the tree in the sausage-making and restaurant
business. When Swiss-born
Marcel Hess opened up his delis and restaurants in
Ra’anana and Jerusalem, he came with an international reputation, several medals
won in international sausage-making competitions and close connections with
dignitaries and celebrities from many countries. The walls of his establishments
testified to his good connections. Hess’s son
Doron, who now runs the Jerusalem
restaurant adjacent to the Russian Compound, is following in the family
footsteps in more ways than one. Aside from having mastered the secrets of
sausagemaking and meat-curing, he has also hosted several dignitaries, among
them Moscow Chief Rabbi
Pinchas Goldschmidt, head of the Staten Island Yeshiva
Rabbi
Reuven Feinstein (son of of halachic authority Rabbi Moshe Feinstein) and
this week Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman, who is partial to goulash soup and
lamb shoulder.
■ MORE THAN 100 people attended the opening at Hamigdalor
Gallery in Old Jaffa last Friday of artist
Shirley Siegel‘s new exhibition,
“Bygone Beauty.”
Among the art lovers was Channel 2 current affairs host
Oded Ben-Ami, who spent a lot of time chatting to the artist’s father, Dr.
Tzony
Siegal, MD, DMD, founder and chief medical officer of NonLinear Technologies
Ltd. Also present was
Yael Goldman who curated the show, which will be displayed
until December 11 .
A professional painter and an instructor of drawing
and painting workshops, Shirley Siegal has experience teaching art, art history
and graphic design and has worked as an independent artist and designer for more
than a decade. Her paintings center around the female figure in the past and the
present. From 2007-2009 she was the head administrator of museum studies at Tel
Aviv University.
A woman of many interests, she has a degree in
archeology and South-East Asia studies from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem
and a diploma in museum studies from Tel Aviv University.
She is
currently writing her master’s and PhD thesis on archeological museums.
■
IT DOESN'T matter how good any performing or visual arts artist(s) may be;
appreciation and encouragement never go astray. Winning a prize in an
international competition is of course the best expression of both.
Sasha
Gentelev, whose film
The Violinists about the Musicians of Tomorrow, which was
initially screened at the DocAviv Film Festival in May of this year, has won the
International Gold Panda Award at the Sichuan TV Festival in China. The win is a
triumph not only for Gentelev but also for the young musicians and their teacher
Anna Rosnovsky, former first violinist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, who
relocated to the Galilee to bring out the best in these gifted youngsters who
have performed all over Israel and abroad. This month they will also perform at
the Ma’alot Film Festival and the Gourmet Food Festival in the Jordan
Valley.
■ ON HANUKKA its customary to give small sums money to children
to spend as they please. Many chocolate companies produce coin-shaped chocolates
wrapped in gold paper to convey the idea of Hanukka “gelt” (money).
But
Zichron Menachem, an organization that tries to make life sweeter for children
with cancer, has come up with a different proposal and is asking the public to
donate hair for wigs for such children.
Numerous hairdressers around the
country have joined the campaign and are willing to cut hair for free for anyone
who is donating hair (a braid or ponytail at least 25 centimeters long) to the
cause. The campaign will be conducted from December 18 to 20 between 2 and 8
p.m. Makeup artist
Mickey Boganin has joined the campaign’s television promos,
playing a hairdresser who cuts the hair of 10-and-ahalf- year old
May Malovitz
who grew her tresses for two years in order to donate her hair to another little
girl Also appearing in the campaign promos is 13-year-old cancer patient
Daniella Mor Mizrahi, who has not allowed her condition to overshadow her
sparkling personality.
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