Gathering -

For the first time: Yitzhak - An International Arts Gathering featuring Yitzhak from biblical days to date to be held in the Western Galilee June 17-23, 2005.

   
YITZHAK, a first-time international marathon of artistic sessions spread over a week of functions wherein Israeli and American artists, Jews, Arabs, and Christians, shall gather and collaborate.

Functions shall take place in the Western Galilee, initiated by Partnership 2000 of the Western Galilee and the Central Area Consortium, a program of the Jewish Agency for Israel, opening on Friday, June 17, 2005 and ending on Thursday, June 23, 2005. Dozens of renowned artists, Israeli and American, will take part.

The art media utilized: visual arts (painting, sculpture, etc.) and the performing arts (theater, dance, singing). All artworks share one muse: YITZHAK. The artists elected the YITZHAK they wished to depict, some chose the Biblical Yitzhak, others preferred various historic personas named Yitzhak (such as: Yitzhak Sadeh, Yitzhak Rabin, and others), as well as themes connected with the root verb of Yitzhak, Hebrew for To Laugh, and its conjugations. The artworks and performances shall be accessible to the public in several Western Galilee locations: Acre Festival Gardens, The Western Galilee Campus, Kibbutz Lohamei Hageta'ot, Kibbutz Ga'aton and The Acre Theater.

The Yitzhak project also entails tours of the Western Galilee, its galleries, the artists' studios and workshops, as well as lectures on the common theme of Yitzhak. The gathering is honored by an exceptionally large representation of Jewish communities in The Midwest whose members will take an active part in it.

The opening of Yitzhak is to be held at Acre Festival Gardens with the presence of the distinguished guests: Mayor of Acre Mr. Shimon Lankri, Head of Matteh Asher Regional Council Mr. Yehuda Shavit, and representatives of the Jewish Agency. The opening shall also include a pantomime show "Waiting for Yitzhak" performed by the Mimic Group which is comprised of Jewish and Arab teenagers. Followed by a dance show based on Yitzhak Rabin's speech when receiving the Nobel Prize, choreographed by the American Cat Smith, with American Christian dancers and Israeli dancers from the Kibbutz Ga'aton Dance Studio under the management of Yehudit Arnon, Israel Prize Laureate.

The project was conceived three years ago within the Western Galilee and Central Area Partnership 2000 Project which connects an association of 13 communities in the US Midwest and the Israeli Western Galilee, Acre and Matteh Asher Regional Council. The Partnership initiates collaborations between the Western Galilee and the US communities in the fields of medicine, education, community affairs and arts. Production of the Yitzhak gathering commenced some 18 months ago with marketing the idea to the different communities, engaging the artists and selecting the artworks on display by a specially devised panel.

Partnership 2000, a program of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the UJC, promotes people-to-people relationships between the Central Area Consortium; 13 Jewish communities and Israel's Western Galilee through cultural, social, medical, educational and economic programs. Akron, Canton, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown, Ohio; Indianapolis, Northwest Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky; Des Moines, Iowa, Omaha, Nebraska; Dallas, Ft. Worth and San Antonio, Texas are linked with the Western Galilee, the most northern part of Israel on the Mediterranean coast.

For further information please contact:

Dana Harel, dana@kay.co.il, +972-54-8170108

Meirav Saluk, meirav@kay.co.il, +972-54-8170109

Office: +972-4-8112252