Out & About: Top 10 things to do in Israel this week

Museum Day takes place this week. 70 museums across the country will open their doors for free, offering many activities, new exhibitions and tours.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Israel Museum Day (photo credit: Courtesy)
Israel Museum Day
(photo credit: Courtesy)
FILM
1. GADZOOKS, IT’S BACK.....!
The first of the summer movies, Godzilla 2014, has a monster that is a respectful updating of the original Toho beast: sleek and crocodilian in the water but a terrifying klutz on land. With Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Juliet Binoche, David Strathairn.
FESTIVAL
2. LITERARY LIGHTS
The fourth Jerusalem International Writers Festival opens Sunday at Mishkenot Sha’ananim, offering a rich program. It includes a daily English-language event called Writing Here, Writing There, where prominent Israeli writers have a discussion with their international counterparts.
The guests at one of the events are David Grossman and Nicole Krauss (pictured).
For a full program, go to http://writersfestival.co.il/?lang=en
3. MULTIFOCUS
The 14th annual Musrara Mix multimedia art festival of the Musrara Art School returns with a plethora of exhibitions, performances and installations. The festival is a hub of artistic and social happenings, embodying the political and cultural essence of Jerusalem in particular and Israel as a whole. The theme of this year’s festival is the analog.
Tuesday to next Thursdsay from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at 9 Ha’ayin-Het Street, Jerusalem, in the yards of neighborhood homes and in public spaces. Free admission.
4. NON-STOP ACTION
The annual Ya’arot Menashe Festival in the North opens tonight, offering three days of musical and art performances for the whole family. The popular entertainers include Dr. Kasper, Shlomi Shaban, Shlomo Gronich and The Orchestra.
From 4 p.m. Thursday until Saturday evening.
For tickets and information about transportation and camping, go to
THEATER
5. ‘OLIVER’ IS BACK
Encore! Educational Theatre Company presents Lionel Bart’s popular musical Oliver!.
With a cast of 75 and a full orchestra, Dickens’s novel Twist, with melody and mirth.
Directed by Robert Binder, the production is performed in English with Hebrew surtitles.
May 20, 21, 22, 28, 29 and June 1 at Hirsch Theatre, Beit Shmuel, 6 Shama Street, Jerusalem. Tickets online at www.Encoreetc.com or call 054-578-9006 or the Hirsch Theatre box office (02) 620-3463.
ART
6. POWERFUL OBJECTS
Embracing a range of ritualistic objects and sculptures from the African continent, the 60 works on display in the new exhibition “Hidden Power in African Art” were used in ritual processes. The exhibition seeks to break down the individual components of these objects to reveal the sources of divine power in African societies.
Opens Tuesday at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem
7. NO FOREIGN SUBJECT
The new exhibition “Foreigners among Us” deals with issues such as the status and rights of migrant workers in the Western world. In the context of this complex discourse, the works look at the ways public consciousness is shaped in relation to the notion of foreignness in general and foreign workers in particular in both the local and global context.
Beit Hagafen Art Gallery, Haifa. http:// beit-hagefen.com
8. SMOKING HOT
In time for the Lag Ba’omer bonfires, the Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center opens “Smoke,” an exhibition of ceramics made using the traditional technique of smoke firing to finish pots and achieve special effects.
Opens today a 7:30 p.m., 17 Ha’amal Street, Tel Aviv, (03) 518-2257, www.benyaminiceramics.org.
MUSIC
9. FOUR BRITS AND MORE
The Doric String Quartet (UK) – violinists Alex Redington and Jonathan Stone, violist Hélène Clément and cellist John Myerscough – will perform two concerts at the Israel Conservatory in Tel Aviv. The first, next Thursda at 8:30 p.m., features a program of Haydn, Janacek and Beethoven.
The second, next Friday at 11 a.m., features horn player Chezy Nir, clarinetist Gilad Harel and pianist Jonathan Biss (US) performing Mozart’s Horn Quintet and Brahms’s Piano Quintet.
For details and tickets, call (03) 546-6228. www.icm.org.il
MIXED
10. FREE ACTIVITIES FOR ALL
International Museum Day takes place on Monday, and 70 museums across the country will open their doors for free, offering many activities, new exhibitions and tours. This year’s theme is Museum Collections Make Connections. Many of the activities are suitable for the whole family, such as the Giant Blue Cubes compound at the Jerusalem Science Museum; special play areas at the Design Museum, Holon; and a Peace Maze at the Museum of Archeology at Kibbutz Ein Dor (pictured).
For a complete list of participating museums, go to www.icom.org.il.