Jerusalem Culture Unlimited

Jerusalem Culture Unlimited (JCU), seeks to strengthen new, emerging, and mid-size arts organizations in Jerusalem through professional development and organizational management training, education, and other resources.

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Jerusalem Season of Culture

The Jerusalem Season of Culture gathers hundreds of visual artists, DJs, chefs and artists from other genres, to draw inspiration from Jerusalem’s complexities, divides and layers and create something that taps into the deeper sides of Jerusalem and the lives of the people here. All events that are part of Jerusalem Season of Culture are unique to Jerusalem’s ambiance, style and different layers. These events could scarcely work outside of Jerusalem and they give expression to a creative, sophisticated, artistic, social and humanist statement that is enjoyed by many every year.
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Karen Brunwasser

Deputy Director at Jerusalem Season of Culture

Karen is a proud native of Philadelphia, but “is madly in love with her adopted hometown of Jerusalem”. Karen is the deputy director and one of the founders of the Jerusalem Season of Culture, a summer music festival that showcases Jerusalem as a vibrant, musical, and creative city. According to their website, “Jerusalem is the greatest font of creativity in the world. For us, Jerusalem plays the starring role, forming a backdrop for the performances and acting as our primary source of inspiration. Jerusalem is both the reason and the instigator. We are permanently attuned to the voices emerging from within this city, the harmonious and discordant alike, and, despite all the background noise, we try to extract from them an open and clear sound of creativity.” Karen cares deeply about the city’s civil society and hosts her own radio show, Cosmopolitan Jerusalem that profiles activists, artists, and entrepreneurs from Jerusalem.

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Mayumana House

In 1996, Eylon Nuphar and Boaz Berman, driven by their deep love for percussion and music, created the first Mayumana show. From around the world, Berman and Nuphar gathered a small group of gifted performers, each with diverse talents and contrasting backgrounds. Sparked by their shared passion for rhythm and coordination, and fueled by their unique sense of humor and mischief, their group dynamic on stage was inexhaustible and infectious. Enriched by working with a multicultural cast, they all inspired each other to fulfill the individual’s prowess in his/her area of expertise, while developing in all players the versatility to master other skills. This befits the name Mayumana, which comes from the Hebrew word for skill – Meyumanut.

“An explosive outburst of vitality, energy and delightful acting”

The power of each Mayumana creation comes from the strong emphasis placed on the unity and synchronization of the group as a whole. At the same time, the talent and beauty of the individual performer is highlighted and celebrated. Mayumana’s playfulness extends beyond the stage, reaching out to engage in direct interactions with its audiences of all ages and cultures. 16 years later with performers from more than 20 different nationalities, Mayumana has become one of Israel’s leading cultural exports. It has entertained millions of people around the world with its international touring cast, as well as in its home theatre, The Mayumana House, which is located at the old harbor of Jaffa.

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Naomi Bloch-Fortis

CEO at Jerusalem Season of Culture

Naomi Fortis is best known for her tenure as CEO of the world-famous modern dance troupe, Bat Sheva. She left this position to head up the Jerusalem Season of Culture, which she manages to this day. Naomi’s creative approach, and her ability to fuse different cultures and points of view, is the driving force behind the refocusing of the Jerusalem Season of Culture on the spirit of the people and sacredness of Jerusalem, hence the name that symbolizes the festival: Mekudeshet (Sacred). Naomi’s passion is to enable the expression of the clashes of cultures that Jerusalem so aptly represents, through unique works of art, clashing points of view and original collaborations.

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Ruth Cummings

Founder at Jerusalem Culture Unlimited

Ruth Cummings has lived in Jerusalem since 1994 and has professional and lay leader experience as an independent consultant for creative community building and resource and program development for the Israel Festival, Jerusalem; the Jerusalem Cinematheque; the Lab and Bakehila. Ruth has served on numerous boards, including Vertigo Dance Company, The Jerusalem Circus Association (chair 2005-10), the Pardes Institute (chair of Israeli board 2000-03), the Garrison Institute, the Trisha Brown Dance Company and the Nathan Cummings Foundation among others. Ruth founded Jerusalem Culture Unlimited as a transformational capacity-building process to raise Jerusalem’s emerging and small to mid-size arts and culture organizations to their next level. The goal is to create innovations and infrastructure, ensuring operational stability, program quality and vitality of the organizations for the benefit of the city.

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Vertigo Art Eco-Village

VERTIGO Eco Art Village is a center for art and ecology located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in Israel’s rural Ellah Valley. At its heart is the Vertigo Dance Company, which founded the Village in order to foster artistic creation engaged with the environment. Other artists – visual artists and writers, experts in permaculture, builders and artists whose medium is earth – joined and co-visioned the project in its early stages, and continue to develop the project in partnership with Vertigo. THE VERTIGO DANCE COMPANY rehearses and performs at the center. In addition, the center offers workshops and classes in the fields of art and practical ecology, and serves as a performance space and collaborative venue for artists working in various media. As part of its environmental focus the Village develops and disseminates information on green technologies such as water conservation systems and sustainable energy sources. The Village aims to inspire socially conscious, creative sustainable living, and to connect participants from all walks of life, in Israel and abroad, to themselves, their creativity and the environment.

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