「Harucon (ハルコン) 2016」
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/161454730883426/
Date: March 24th
Location: International Convention Center (Binyanei Hauma), Jerusalem
Program: http://2016.harucon.org.il/events/
Contact: http://2016.harucon.org.il/צרו-קשר
“Harucon” had once again graced us with her presence! Filled with lectures such as, 'An Introduction to the World of Figurines', 'Cats in Japan', 'Behind the Animation: Anime Studios', merchandise to buy, a musical to attend, screenings to watch, a game room, and more! The convention once again took place in Jerusalem, so it was easier to travel to and from. And this year, Harucon hosted two special guests: Yoram Yosefberg, a professional Israeli actor and dubber of many cartoons, and Toru Furuya, a Japanese voice actor who has voiced characters from many animations, among them “Mobile Suits Gundam”, “Saint Seiya”, “Sailor Moon”, and “Dragon Ball Z”.
（photo by Embassy of Japan, Tel-Aviv）
News in Japan (NHK)
News in Israel (Channel 1)
Index of April
１． 「Batia Shani –Stitching into fear」 needle work exhibition
２． 「when a night ends—the sun rises」photo exhibition by Amit Berlowitz
３． Dina Yoffe Piano Recital
４． Ivry Gitlis, World of Concerto & Solo
５． Rahav Shani conducts Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra
６． New CD & Book（Jonathan Levi 『Yonatan』 /Salam Unagami 『Breakfast in Istanbul－Orient Gourmet Tour』）
＊Other news
① SABON GOURMET opens at NEWoMan Shinjuku (JR Shinjuku station)
② Co. Un Yamada performance at Thum-na Theater, Tel Aviv
③ Tom Weksrel at Kyoto International Dance Workshop Festival
④ Magazine “WIRED”, “Men’s Precious” feature Israel
１．“Batia Shani -Stitching into fear” Needle Work Exhibition
This body of work consists of framed envelopes on top of which Shani embroidered her personal fears. The engagement in anxiety is directly portrayed in those hung envelopes, which are an act of releasing and disposing of her fears, while at the same time writing those fears validates them. Few of the envelopes are hung backwards, a move which transforms the text into an abstract combination of symbols, thus rendering meaningless. The back side reveals the unplanned and uncontrolled outcome of her work and thus exposes her constant struggle between the need to release & the need to stay in control. Shani also used torn pieces and pockets of IDF uniforms, and embroidered on them sentences relating to fear & other issues that stems from it. The definition of fear as it appears in a Psychology book is embroidered on one of the pockets. She also combined in it sayings & quotations of leaders & intellectuals relating to fear.
< Batia Shani -Stitching in to fear >
Date and Time： Fr. Apr. 8〜 Sat. May 7 /12:00～19:00 *Apr. 29, May 3、4、5 closed
Place：MA2 Gallery (3-3-8 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku)
Inquiry： TEL 03- 3444 -1133
Related event
Reception & Talk
Batia Shani x Ms. Teiko Hinuma（Joshibi University of Art & Design）
Fri. Apr. 8 at 18：00〜 （admission free）
Batia Shani
Born in Haifa, Israel, 1954, Lives & works in Israel & in New York City
1994-1995 Hamidrasha School of Art, Beit Berl, Kalmania,
1989-1990 Royal School of Needlework (RSN), London
1974-1977 School of Social Work, Haifa University
Solo exhibitions
2014 Tissue (catalogue), Rothchild 69, Tel Aviv
2013 No Such Street in Haifa (catalogue) , Haifa Museum, Haifa
2004 Frayed Colors, Chelouche House, Tel Aviv
2001 Sapiens Headquarters, London
２．「when a night ends—the sun rises」 Photo Exhibition by Amit Berlowitz
As long as I create I am looking for meaning, and this, in fact, is the meaning of life to me.—Amit Berlowitz
Tel Aviv-based artist Amit Berlowitz presents her first solo exhibition in Japan, bringing together her works, from the ‘Godot’ (2015) series based on Samuel Beckett’s play ‘Waiting for Godot’ to her latest film, ’Flags’ (2014) which shows children playing the game “flags” on a beach, and another one, ‘Dance’ (2014) about a woman with a mask on her face dancing to a piano concerto in front of the camera.
While the beautiful scenes and people of Israel that appear in the works are “vernacular,” the elements that make up the story, the “locations, people, and words,” begin to change into the universal factors, “places, bodies and sounds,” through the simple actions or their repetition that happen in the works. The pure and innocent beauty of the work, and its ability to imbue an everyday situation with narrativity, is surely due to the fact that word “meaning” is used by Berlowitz to refer to the primal meanings which free the words from their traditional definitions, awakening our physical memories and drawing upon the existing memories and stories in each of us.
＜when a night ends—the sun rises/VACANT VERNACULAR #2＞
Schedule: Apr 15 Fri – May 15 Sun, 2016
Gallery hours:12 – 8pm (Open everyday)
Venue: VACANT/GALLERY （3-20-13 Jingumae Shibuya Tokyo）
Admission: Free
Related Event
＜「KG+ 2016」＞
(KG＋ is an art project started in 2013 in association with Kyotographie International Photography Festival in order to showcase up-and-coming photographers and curators in Kyoto, Japan)
Exhibition title: when a night ends-the sun rises
Schedule: Apr 22 Fri – 28 Thu
Gallery hours: 12 – 8pm (Open everyday)
Venue: MFSroom（71-5 Shimogamo Umenokicho Skyo, Kyoto）
Admission: Free
Amit Berlowitz
Amit Berlowitz is a photographer and filmmaker. Born in the United State, she lives and works in Tel Aviv, Israel. Berlowitz holds a MFA in Visual Arts from Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris. Her solo exhibitions include ‘Métonomie(s),’ ‘Gallery Mor-Charpentier, Paris (2011); ‘In Between Everything that Is,’ Braverman Gallery, Tel Aviv (2009). Group exhibitions include ‘Les Chroniques Purple,’ Vacant, Tokyo (2014); ‘Another world possible,’ Jaffa 23, Jerusalem (2012); ‘Private/Corporate VII,’ Daimler Art Collection, Berlin (2012). She has been awarded the Israeli Ministry of Culture Prize for Encouragement of Creativity (2011). Her photographs and her texts have been published in numerous international magazines including: Les Chronique Purple, The Purple Journal, Correspondencia, Code Magazine, Picnic Magazine and Artforum.
3. Dina Yoffe Piano Recital
"...Her playing flowed beautifully, and avoided even the slightest hint of sentimentality. Hers was a strongly felt authentic Chopin. Maestro Zubin Mehta collaborated marvelously as a perfect accompanist." (B. Bar-Ami, Jerusalem Post)
"...it is not only finished skill of master that characterizes her rendition but first of all the striking poetry of her soul that is in full swing.(..)at desert of modern art her playing resembles a life - giving spring which restores the lost harmony of our world."
(Ongaku no Tomo, Tokyo Shimbun, Japan)
"...Every moment of her performance, her gentleness and the warmth generated for both the music and the audience penetrated into the listener's heart. There was the light and the shadow of intellect .D. Yoffe is performer who translates the language of living..." (Asahi News, Japan)
＜ Dina Yoffe Piano Recital＞
Date & Time: Tue. Apr. 26 at 19:00
Place： Toyosu Bunka Center, Civic center Hall（Yurakucho Line, Yurikamome “Toyosu”station）
Program ：A. Scriabin 24 Preludes, Op.11 / F. Chopin 24 Preludes, Op.28
Price： Adult 4,000yen / Student 2500yen
Reservation：Piano Forti info@fazioli.co.jp Tel: 03-6809-3534 or 090-4612-5316 （Fukunaga）
Local concert
Date & Time：Sun, Apr. 24 at 14:00
Place：Navius Hall at Mihama Town （Fukui Prefecture）
Dina Yoffe
Originally from Riga(Latvia),
Dina Yoffe started her musical education at the distinguished Emil Darzin's Special School of Music in her hometown, and continued at The Central Music School in Moscow. Graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music in Moscow, under the tutelage of Professor Vera Gornostayeva, one of the most important proponents of the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus school.
The concert activities of Dina Yoffe are well known throughout many continents and countries such as France, Germany, England, Russia, Israel, Japan, USA, Finland and Poland. Among the high points of her international career - concerts with outstanding orchestras, such as the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, the Japanese Radio Orchestra NHK under Neville Marriner, the Moscow Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev and Dmitri Kitayenko, the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra under James De Pries, Orchestra "Kremerata Baltica " under Gidon Kremer,"Moscow Soloist " under Y.Bashmet and Orchestra Sinfonia Varsovia under J.Kaspszyk, as well as recitals in world known events such as - F.Chopin Festival in Duszniki, Eurolesia Festival-Wroclaw (honorary chairman Kurt Masur) in Poland, F.Chopin Festival in Geneve and Basel (Switzerland), Music-Festival in Bayreuth - Germany, concert tours in Japan, Elba Music Festival (Italy), Summit Music Festival (USA), concerts in New York (Bargemusic Concerts). Festival"Virtuose in Lember", opening season with Odessa Filharmonie Orchestra in Ukraine, Festival"Chopin and his Europe"in Warsaw, Serate Musicale in Milano, Sala Verdi, Sala Rossini in Pesaro.
４．Ivry Gitlis, his World of Concerto and Solo
During his long career, world-renowned Israeli violinist Ivry Gitlis has performed with the most prestigious orchestras and the most famous conductors all over the world. Supporter of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Ivry Gitlis played at the Oslo gala commemorating the first anniversary of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Accords. Ivry Gitlis was designated UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 1990. He has supported UNESCO by performing at various UNESCO fundraising galas for educational and cultural projects.
Ivry Gitlis expresses his artistic talent in numerous fields. In addition to being a violin virtuoso, he writes and composes and is the author of L’âme et la corde. A dedicated supporter of young musical talents, he has founded several music festivals.
＜ Ivry Gitlis ×Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Nikolai Diadiura＞
Date & Time：Tue. Apr. 26 at 19:00
Place：Tokyo Metropolitan Art Theatre Concert hall (Ikebukuro)
Price：￥6500～￥10500
Program：
Tchaikovsky：The Nutcracker
Chausson：Poème
J.S.Bach：Concerto for Violin No.2 in e major, BWV 1042
Beethoven：Symphony No. 5 in C minor Op. 67
＜Ivry Gitlis’s world Violin Recital piano by Vahan Mardirossian＞
Date & Time: Tue. May 3 at 14:00
Place：KioiHall（Yotsuya）
Price：￥7500
Program：
Hindemith：Sonate für Violine und Klavier op.11-1
Beethoven：Sonate für Violine und Klavier Nr.5“ Fühling”
Maestro’s Choice
Inquiry：Tempo Primo TEL:03-5810-7772 and other ticket service
Ivry Gitlis
5. Lahav Shani condusts Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra
Shani imbued the work [Mahler Symphony No.1] with such a mature, noble composure and a striving for perfection that was clear to everyone on the day that nobody could believe he was only 26... pure authority, refined by exceptional skill. Wiener Zeitung, November 2015
This concert will be remembered as a dizzying, perhaps even historic, event in the history of the Israeli Philharmonic… The last time I saw such enthusiasm for a young conductor at the IPO was for the first appearance of Gustavo Dudamel in the country. Globes (Israel), October 2013
＜Lahav conducts Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra＞
Sat. Apr.30 at 15:00
Place: Parthenon Tama
Program:
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64
Mahler: Symphony No.1 in D major 'Titan'
With: Shunske Sato (violin)
Price：Yokohama /3500～7500 yen Tama / 2000～4800 yen
Reservation：Yomikyo Ticket Center TEL: 0570-00-4390（10:00～10:00）
（photo：Marco Borggreve）
Lahav Shani
Prodigiously talented 26 year old Israeli conductor and pianist Lahav Shani was awarded first prize at the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra's prestigious Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition in 2013, making a huge impression with his astonishing maturity and natural and instinctive musicality.
Shani was born in 1989 in Tel Aviv. He started his piano studies at six with Hannah Shalgi, and continued with Prof. Arie Vardi at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv. Today, he is completing his studies in conducting with Prof. Christian Ehwald and piano with Prof. Fabio Bidini, both at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin. In recent years he has been mentored by Daniel Barenboim. His close relationship with the Israel Philharmonic started in 2007 when he performed Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto under the baton of Zubin Mehta, and continued in 2010 when he joined Mehta and the orchestra on tour in Asia, where he participated as solo pianist, conductor’s assistant and as double bass player.。
6. New book and discs
Jonathan is an Israeli musician born to parents of German and Moroccan origin. His musical career began at age eighteen, when he was chosen to play bass with Israel’s leading singer-song writer Yudit Ravitz. Within a short time he became a sought-after session musician who recorded over a hundred records and toured with Israel’s top artists both in Israel and worldwide. The purchase of a eight-track tape machine at age twenty four marked the beginning of what he defines as “my love affair with sound”. What began as a small music studio soon turned into a thriving career as music producer of many records and award winning music.
In 2001 Jonathan joined Izabo band. Two years later the band was signed to SONY BMG, and their debut album, “Morning Hero”, was released in the United Kingdom. The same album was also released in France, Belgium and the Netherlands under the title “The Fun Makers”. A second album, “Superlight”, followed in 2009. In 2012 Izabo were signed to 100% Records, where they released their third album “Life Is On My Side”. Highly acclaimed for their unique musical style, Izabo toured all over Europe, and were chosen to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest. Jonathan Levy presently resides in New York City.
“Breakfast in Istanbul -Middle Eastern Gourmet Tour” by Salam Unagami ￥833+tax now on sale from FUTABA-sha
Graduated Meiji University Politics & Economies, Salam (Takuya Unagami) is a music critic, DJ and food specialist of Indian & Middle Eastern cuisine. Also radio personality of the World Music Radio Program "Asian Cruise" on NHK FM and a lecturer at Asahi Culture Centre Shinjuku. Often travel around the Indian sub-continent & the Middle East. The book is the following of his latest book "Oishii Chuto （Delicious Middle East）, Trip with the Middle Eastern cooking”, and it introduces the dishes and recipes from Israel, Turkey, Lebanon and Morocco using the materials which you can get them in Japan, with heart-warming episodes with local people and culture.
＊Other news
①「SABON GOURMET」opens at NEWoManSHINJUKU (JR Shinjuku Station)
SABON opens new store of which concept is “Delicatessen” at the newly renovated corridor of the JR Shinjuku station, the space called “NEWoManSHINJUKU”.The brand was established in Tel Aviv in1997 by Avi Piatok & Sigal Kotler-Levi, with the concept of “artistic cosmetics with inspiration” now runs more than 150 stores all over the world.
And this SABON GOURMET at Shinjuku is the world premier store.
② Japanese contemporary dance company Co. Un Yamada performed in Tel Aviv with great success
Un Yamada, leading Japanese contemporary dancer and choreographer, who participated in the Japan Dance Week 2014 at the Suzanne Dellal Center with the good reaction of Israeli audience, came back to Tel Aviv with her own company. The performance was held on Mar.25 and 26 at Thum-na Theater. After the show Un stayed in Israel for her workshop at The 'Maslool - at Bikurey Ha'Itim
Interview by Jerusalem Post：http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Tokyo-in-Tel-Aviv-Company-448860
③ Tom Weksler presents various dance workshops at Kyoto International Dance Workshop Festival
Tom Weksler who worked in the Inbal Pinto & Avshalom Pollak Dance Company before, is invited by the Kyoto International Dance Workshop Festival once again.
This time he presents workshops not only for professional dancers but also beginners and families. There will be also a showing as a result of the workshop.
「Kyoto International Dance Workshop Festival 2016」（Fri. Apr. 22～Sun. May /Kyoto Art Center）
＜Tom’s Workshops＞
Apr. 29～May. 8 at 16:00 for professional dancers
Wed. May 4 at 13:30 for families
May. 5～May. 8 at 10:30 conditioning class
Fri. May 6 at 19:00 for beginners and after talk
Sun. May.8 at 16:00 Showing （as result of workshop）
Inquiry： Kyoto Art CenterTEL:075-213-1000
① Magazine 『WIRED』、『Men’s Precious』 feature Israel
『WIRED』 , magazine for innovators and entrepreneurs ( published on Apr.9) reports the start-up scene in Israel. Also 『MEN’s Precious 』, the men’s fashion magazine for middle aged adult (published on Apr.6) features Yaron Fink, Israeli legendary fashion model in the spectacular landscapes of Israel. Both magazines present more than 20 pages for these special feature.
Thank you always for your attention to Israeli art and culture.
The small & funny topic of the month is SquaDus, Israeli “OTAKU “ sings Japanese songs amazingly !
His You Tube video has seen more than 13 million times.