And
now, after five years of exploring and deepening our understanding of
Jerusalem’s manifold layers, we understand that after all is said and done the
essence of Jerusalem is contained within the Hebrew root for the words sacred
and holy. It is from holiness that faith, hope, and the aspiration for tikkun
olam (the concept of repairing the world) derive;
holiness is the source of
divisiveness,
exclusion, and
hatred; holiness is both the spring from
which all the good of Jerusalem bursts forth
and the foundation stone of all that is
bad.
And now, after five years of dancing
around the starting point, we feel ready and mature enough to reach into
Jerusalem’s heart of hearts and propose a more expansive and profound
interpretation of the words holy, sanctification, and sacredness.
All of
our artistic performances will make a modest attempt—with the greatest respect
for everything that came before—to propose a new way of viewing the city’s
holiness; as a place that can both include and exclude every one of us
simultaneously; as a place that allows us and even forces us out of our comfort
zone and compels us to pursue what we consider sacred.
In response to
what Jerusalem, the country, and we too have endured, we have decided to channel
everything into one intensive three-week festival named Mekudeshet which draws
its inspiration from reality, the people in Jerusalem and the fascinating
processes that happen in and around it. The festival converts reality into
meticulously crafted artworks that expand the mind, and tries, in all modesty,
to impact it and highlight the beauty and good that resonate from Jerusalem and
to create reality through art.
All of the artistic creations in
Mekudeshet 2016 derive from Jerusalem or flow back into it. They explore and
question everything that Jerusalem holds sacred. They feed off and into its
complex reality. They rethink and examine conventional paradigms associated
with the city. Release the sounds and harmonies that emanate from Jerusalem. And
this year, will challenge accepted notions of what constitutes art and
creativity while forcing us to stop for a moment to reexamine
ourselves.
We will try during the three weeks of Mekudeshet—or actually
at any given moment— to go back to the source, to the spring, to the core, and
to the heart, and to call on anyone who believes—no matter what they believe
in—to come to Jerusalem. Come and find yourselves. Come in
peace.
Artistic Director: Itay Mautner
Executive Director: Naomi
Bloch Fortis
end quote
video explaining event
Quote from Executive
Director 
