The Rabbit Hole

News and clues from the land of literature and culture.

By SHIRA LEVY
Updated: MARCH 2, 2017 18:10
Ohad Naharin at work (photo credit: GADI DAGON)
Ohad Naharin at work
(photo credit: GADI DAGON)
While interesting and constantly changing, the cultural and literary world does not always receive enough media coverage. In this new column, we will present you with a small selection of new and refreshing cultural news from Israel and around the world. The first column is dedicated to two exhibitions, several recently published books and another exciting one worth waiting for.
Winnie the Pooh in the Holy Land
In honor of Winnie the Pooh’s 90th birthday, the Beit Ariela Library, in cooperation with Disney Israel, is holding an exhibition titled “Small Pleasures,” which showcases illustrations of Pooh and his famous friends traveling around the world in locations such as UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Israel.
The beloved bear, created by A.A. Milne, comes to life in this series of illustrations by Kim Raymond in the style of E.H. Shepard, illustrator of the original Winnie-the- Pooh, and finds himself visiting the Dead Sea, Jerusalem’s Mahaneh Yehuda market and even picking oranges on a kibbutz.
The exhibition opened on February 26 and will run for three months. Beit Ariela offers a variety of workshops and children’s activities dedicated to Pooh throughout March and April. Entry to the exhibition is free of charge.
Tom Hanks adds ‘writer’ to his resumé
Beloved actor, producer and director Tom Hanks has announced the future publication of his first book, a short story collection by the name of Uncommon Type. Hanks, known for his roles in numerous movies, including Philadelphia, Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan, will publish his first work of fiction with Knopf on October 24, 2017.
A newly discovered novel by Walt Whitman
An early work of prose by great American poet Walt Whitman has recently been discovered. The book, a previously unknown novel named The Life and Adventures of Jack Engle, was originally printed in 1852 as a six-part series in The Sunday Dispatch. The short novel, published anonymously at the time, was discovered by Zachary Turpin, a doctoral candidate at the University of Houston. The book can already be found online on the Walt Whitman Quarterly Review website.
‘Walking on Winds’ – a first novel in a new Arabic literature series
The novel Walking on Winds by Salman Natour was launched at the Van Leer Institute last week. Natour (1949-2016), born and raised in Daliat al-Carmel, was a prominent Arab-Palestinian intellectual, writer, playwright, editor and translator. Natour wrote more than 30 books and translated many works from Arabic into Hebrew and vice versa.
He also served as the secretary-general of the Arab Writers’ Union in Israel.
Walking on Winds is the first book published by the Van Leer institute as a part of Maktoob, a unique series of books dedicated to translations of Arabic literature into Hebrew. The project is the initiative of translators and scholars Prof. Yehouda Shenhav, Dr. Yoni Mendel, Maysaloun Dalashe and publisher and editor Yehonatan Nadav. The series is published in cooperation with the Van Leer Institute, the Payis Council for Culture and the Arts and Olam Hadash Publishing.
Ohad Naharin – anthologized
A new book called Naharin, dedicated to the life and work of Ohad Naharin, famous choreographer, dancer and artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, has been published by Asia Publishers. Works by Naharin are admired worldwide and his achievements have earned him numerous awards, including the Israel Prize and the French Legion of Honor. The author, Gabi Eldor, traveled with Naharin’s company for years and documented his work as a fascinating world-class artist. The book combines essays describing and analyzing his work with photographs from Gadi Dagon, who has documented Naharin and his art over the years.
Banksy in Israel
An exhibition dedicated to works of famous British street artist Banksy, whose true identity is unknown, will be displayed in the Arena Herzliya from April 4 to 18.
Banksy – painter, graffiti artist and social activist – is considered one of the most prominent political graffiti artists in the world. The exhibition will present the largest collection of his works to date, including the well-known Girl with Balloon.
Banksy, who has received worldwide recognition and critical acclaim, has often performed subversive pranks aimed at the established art world, including “guerrilla” exhibits of his works in museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate Britain, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and more. His works can be found on urban spaces such as bridges, street corners and abandoned warehouses around the world.
Short story project ‘Maaboret’ nominated for prestigious award
The Maaboret short story project, a multilingual website featuring short stories in various languages and formats, is among the finalists for the Literary Translation Initiative Award, awarded by the London International Book Fair. The award winners will be announced during the fair, which will take place in the middle of March.
Awards at the prestigious London book fair are given out in 16 categories, including literary academic research, children’s literature and international publications.
Maaboret was founded by writer and architect Yiftach Aloni and is edited by Maya Feldman. The Internet publication includes more than 250 stories in Hebrew, English and Spanish. Writers published on the website so far include Agatha Christie, Roberto Bolaño, Miranda July, Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Lethem, L. Frank Baum, Doris Lessing, Dorit Rabinyan, Dror Mishani, Etgar Keret and many more.