March 2018 ARTS AS A DRIVER FOR SOCIAL CHANGE IN ISRAEL Author : Dr. Diti Ronen Editor: Ariel Adiram Translation: Kim Weiss ART AS A DRIVER FOR SOCIAL CHANGE IN ISRAEL ART AS A DRIVER FOR SOCIAL CHANGE IN ISRAEL The guide that you are about to read examines the basic and profound question: can and how should the arts serve as a driver for social change.* Author: Dr. Diti Ronen For many, the arts are perceived as superfluous. A play thing for the rich. The Editor: Ariel Adiram crème de la crème that only be enjoyed by society’s elite. For many donors, it Translator: Kim Weiss makes more sense to donate to a women’s shelter, to building a new hospital or to a program that integrates children with disabilities into the regular school Graphic Design: Studio Keren & Golan system. This saves or improves lives in a direct way and produces tangible results. This guide was written with generous support from five partners: This guide shows that the arts are a sophisticated, substantive, innovative and Angelica Berrie, Russell Berrie Foundation ancient vehicle for social change. It illustrates, for the reader, the capacity of the Wendy Fisher, Kirsh Family Foundation arts to simultaneously influence an individual’s or society’s mind and soul. It also Irith Rappaport, Bruce and Ruth Rappaport Foundation presents the arts almost limitless creative capacity to effect positive change. Rivka Saker, Zucker Foundation Lynn Schusterman, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation This guide deals with core issues that are important for donors who donate to the arts: The writing of the guide was completed in consultation with an advisory committee: - How can philanthropic investment in the arts advance substantive and Tzion Abraham Hazan meaningful social change? Naomi Bloch Fortis - How can the impact of this type of investment be measured through genre- Prof. Ati Citron specific indices? Shlomit de Vries - How can investment in the arts strengthen Israeli society in 2018? Tsila Hayun - How is it possible to work in accordance with and increase government investment in this field? - How do the arts help strengthen ties between Israel and Jewish communities abroad? - How does art education encourage citizenship that is more aware, analytical and open? This guide deals with questions that donors frequently ask: - How is it possible to identify and differentiate between art that effects social change and art that is purely creative? - How do the arts impact on Israeli society? - What are the most prominent trends and how can they be compounded? - What part should the government play in subsidizing the arts? - How can an individual donor impact on the artistic arena? We hope that the information that is provided in this guide will expedite the exchange of information between donors and increase the likelihood of future funding for cultural bodies and institutions Greenbooks are research reports written specifically for the funding community. * This guide does not provide a complete overview and does not cover everything that Each unbiased, comprehensive guide focuses on a problem currently facing the is happening in the Israeli arts scene. It is, however, an honest attempt to show the Jewish community, maps out the relevant history, and details a wide range of importance of art as a vehicle for social change, the climate in which it is working and approaches being taken to address the problem. Greenbooks are produced by to provide a wide and diverse range of examples of artistic actions that are attempting the Jewish Funders Network. Greenbooks are available for download at: to bring about meaningful social change in Israel. The following pages are filled with www.jfunders.org/Greenbooks examples of exemplary artistic actions, but there are many more that have been left out. www.jfunders.org www.jfunders.org TABLE OF CONTENTS 07 Introduction PART 1 — THE ARTS 15 How Do We Define Art 17 Artistic Outputs 23 Social Outputs 31 Economic Outputs 35 Conclusion PART 2 — THE SITUATION 38 Why Now? 43 Government Funding For the Arts 51 Arts Education in Israel 56 The Government’s Attitude toward the Arts 61 “The Situation” in Israel 66 Reuven Rivlin’s Four Tribes Speech 69 The Opportunity 70 Israeli Art as Jewish Art 74 The Arts as a Vaccination Against Boycott and Exclusion PART 3 — ARTISTIC FIELDS 78 Examples on the Ground—Introduction 85 Dance 88 Theater 93 Music 97 Visual Arts 103 Literature 105 Conclusion PART 4 — “FIVE WAYS” 108 The Five Ways model 110 The First Way: The Northern Way 119 The Second Way: The Factional Way 130 The Third Way: On the Wayside 140 The Fourth Way: The Southern Way 150 The Fifth Way: Crossing Oceans 160 Additional Information A diverse audience celebrates in the Mekudeshet festival, Jerusalem 2016. www.jfunders.org 7 INTRODUCTION The guide that you are holding outlines the advantages of strategic philanthropic investment in the arts as a driver for social change.1 It explains the critical role of the arts in society for both the general public and the artists themselves. It provides a broad overview of the arts unique and intrinsic benefits, illustrates their capacity to enrich, embody, and strengthen contemporary Jewish-Israeli culture, and underscores the critical importance of investing in the arts as a response to Israel’s current political reality. The guide objective is to provide as comprehensive an overview of the field as possible, by including a detailed synopsis of the key figures in the various artistic fields and an assessment of the leading civil-society initiatives that these institutions are spearheading, in addition the guide highlights “five paths”, out of many, that the arts are taking to bring about real and impactful social change. The guide aims, firstly, to answer two basic questions: why is it important to invest specifically in the arts, and why is it important to do this now? After answering these questions, the guide moves on to practical implementations and maps out all of the socio-artistic activities that are carried out in Israel, despite the difficulties, and despite the existential threat that hangs over Israeli creativity. The guide is divided into four main parts. PART ONE — BACKGROUND The first part of the guide is theoretical. It begins by defining art’s inherent advantages for society and explains the rationale for investing in the arts. It addresses the questions of why we should prioritize the arts, how the arts can be used for social change, and how they impact on society and its surroundings. This part of the guide answers questions such as: 1. “Art” (or the “arts”) relates in this booklet to the classical and familiar genres which include artistic creativity and their derivatives such as: visual arts including fine art, sculpture, video art, performance art and installations, design, photography, and cin- ema; performance arts including conventional theatre, object theatre, visual theatre, puppet theatre, and fringe theatre; music including classical music (from all eras and Residents of Yeruham cracking open sunflower seeds in an art installation at Zumu, in all arrangements) and ethnic music; and dance including contemporary and classical the first mobile museum in Israel, 2018. Photographer: Motti Wolf. dance; word art including belles-lettres and poetry. www.jfunders.org 1. What can be achieved by investing in the arts, and how can the results metaphorical journey to landmark destinations that create and change 8 be measured? 9 reality. This part answers questions such as: 2. What is the connection between humanism and values such as tolerance 1. What examples are there of artistic initiatives that effect social change to artistic creativity, and how can art be used for social change? through multi-genre art? What kind of social change are they creating, 3. How does investment in the arts contribute to education, the comm- and what is driving it? unity, and society? 2. How can a place – a city, a town, or a smaller settlement – use artistic tools to generate a competitive edge? PART TWO — INVESTMENT RATIONALE The second part of the guide is political in nature. It explains why Israel’s It is possible, and maybe even recommended, to read the guide from the current reality justifies philanthropic investment in the arts. This section end to the beginning. To start with the Five Ways, let them work their also delineates the social, cultural, educational, and political environment magic, get excited about the different journeys and milestones, and only in which Israel’s artistic community works and the difficulties and then to dive into the main part of the guide, glance at the rationale, or challenges with which it contends. take an in-depth look at the art scene in Israel and the accompanying This part answers questions such as: opportunities for wise philanthropic investment. Then go back to Part 1. In what kind of cultural, social, educational and political environment one to get a better understanding of the socio-cultural, political, and are artists, creative and performative institutions, and cultural bodies social context that is responsible for bringing, now in particular, Israeli currently operating? artists, creative bodies, and cultural institutions to the attention of Jewish 2. How does this environment impact on the artists and their creative communities worldwide. outputs, the creativity of cultural institutions, and the general Israeli public? We truly hope that you find the guide interesting and that it helps you appreciate the incredible potential of the arts and how they can be used PART THREE — THE ARTS for the social change that Israel so desperately needs. The third part of the guide is primarily pragmatic. It describes the anomaly of Israel’s current art scene which continues to function despite the difficult political situation and lists a number of examples of social and community projects that are working to bring about social change through art.