More than 100 artists and 19 galleries across the city are taking part in a two-week art extravaganza.
By BARRY DAVISalex kremer(photo credit: Courtesy)
Lee He Shulov might not have intended to take on such a large-scale project but she fervently believes in the benefits of the arts extravaganza Lift-Off (Menoffim), which takes off on September 11, and its importance for Jerusalem as a whole.
"I really just want to get back to my studio and paint," says the 30-year-old Jerusalemite artist, "but I feel it is important for artists to share their ideas and to feed off each other, and for them and people who live here to feel they are part a community."
Lift-Off, possibly the largest arts event in Jerusalem's history, is an undertaking of gargantuan proportions, involving over 100 artists, 19 galleries and other exhibition spaces across the city, and all manner of complicated logistics.
"It's been quite a haul," admits Shulov, who's been busy organizing the event for the last couple of months. "We organized a gathering of artists from galleries and artists' cooperatives all over the city, including the Jerusalem Artists Studios where I work, as well as the Arts Department of the Jerusalem Municipality and the Jerusalem Foundation. We discussed the project and went for it."
This may sound simple but it has been anything but. Lift-Off will last just over a fortnight (September 11-28) and, besides arts exhibitions, will encompass a variety of cultural events, including video and music performances, film screenings, lectures, neighborhood tours and illustration workshops for children and adults.
Shulov's work has borne fruit, big time. On opening night at 7 p.m. exhibitions will open simultaneously at locations in downtown Jerusalem, Malha and Talpiot. A shuttle bus service will even be available to help the public make it to as many galleries as possible on the first evening.
Shulov says the seed of the arts event was planted on fertile ground. "There has been an increase in artistic work in Jerusalem in the last two years. Take galleries like Barbur [on Rehov Shirizli in Nahlaot], which has been around for four years, Agrippas 12 which opened a few years ago, and the Jerusalem Artists Studios in which I am a member. Places like Daila and Uganda, which mostly hold musical events, will also be involved. We really are covering the whole city."
Shulov is also keen to note that Lift-Off and the galleries and workshops involved in the project work at street level.
"Two years ago we put on an exhibition called Lower Jerusalem and last year we had one called Tahtiot [Saucers or Subways]," she says. "We decided that we were no longer at the bottom of the pile, and that there is some excellent art happening in Jerusalem."
No less important, as far as Shulov is concerned, is the professional cross-fertilization taking place across the city's artistic community. "For the last two years or so there has been a dialogue going on between different studios and artists around Jerusalem. That is also important and something that has helped to make Lift-Off a reality."
After spending an hour-and-a-half in Shulov's company it's not hard to understand how she managed to sell the idea to the Jerusalem Foundation, the municipality and all manner of commercial sponsors around the city, including the garage next to her studio where some Lift-Off events will be held.
"It was tough to get the funding we needed, but I think if you believe in something enough and talk from the heart, you eventually get what you want," she says.
If nothing else, Shulov is the eternal optimist. "Sure, you can sit around complaining about how tough life is in Jerusalem compared, say, with Tel Aviv. But there is something wonderful here, something we can all feed off. There is a quality here and beauty that give us strength and make life good."
Here, she bravely enters the potential minefield of the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv divide. "In Tel Aviv anything goes and people follow fashions. It's not like here, in Jerusalem, where people share things, share their lives," explains Shulov. "Things happen at street level here, and it's important for artists to do the same. That's one of the main elements of Lift-Off. Tel Aviv could be anywhere in the world, but Jerusalem is definitely Jerusalem. There's no place like it in the world."
Still, Lift-Off is not a purely Jerusalem event, drawing artists from other parts of the country, like Haifa and, yes, even Tel Aviv. "The project is not just about artists in Jerusalem sharing ideas and showing their work to each other. Most of the artists are from here, but I see stuff in Tel Aviv, or anywhere, and I feed off that, too."
Urban renewal also features strongly in the Lift-Off agenda. "There will be exhibitions at the old Eden Cinema which has been closed and derelict for many years," says Shulov. "Maybe, after Lift-Off, someone will be inspired to turn it into a permanent art space instead of milking the site as a lucrative piece of real estate."
Shulov sees this year's Lift-Off as the first of many annual - and possibly more frequent - events. "There is a buzz in the Jerusalem art community. I'm sure people will get that next week."
For more information, visit: www.shumma.com
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