Source: eJewish Philanthropy
With the new academic year about to begin, nine leading Israeli artists will take up residency at colleges and universities across the U.S. through the Schusterman Visiting Israeli Artists program. The program, run under the auspices of the Israel Institute, has been bringing pieces of Israel’s vibrant art scene to new audiences for the past eight years – and this year promises to be as colorful and thought-provoking as ever. The diverse incoming class includes two best-selling Israeli writers, whose works have been translated into more than a dozen languages; one of Israel’s leading composers; and other acclaimed and accomplished virtuosos of choreography, music, literature and the visual arts.
What’s more, their residencies are designed to be particularly dynamic: artists will spend either the Fall or Spring semester teaching and presenting their work to audiences in local communities through classes, exhibitions and performances.
Fall Semester
Nir Evron, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. - Evron’s video works and photographs are presented regularly in public venues around the globe.
Dror Mishani, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. - Best known for his mystery writing and as a scholar of detective fiction, he has taught Hebrew literature previously at Cambridge University, England.
Oded Zehavi, Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University. - Zehavi, a composer, will teach at both institutions and participate in the Violins of Hope, a major exhibit and series of concerts featuring violins restored from the Holocaust, which will be presented in Cleveland during the time of his residency.
Spring Semester
Yaniv Abraham and Guy Shomroni, University of Arizona, Tucson. - Abraham and Shomroni will set works by Ohad Naharin, artistic director of the renowned Batsheva Dance Company, for students at this leading American university dance department.
Assaf Gavron, San Diego State University. - Of Gavron’s sixth novel, The Hilltop, published this year in English, Amos Oz wrote the work “shimmers with wisdom, truth, humour and melancholy.” The New York Times called it “structurally brilliant.”
Bosmat Nossan, University of Michigan.- Nossan was a dancer with Batsheva Dance Company and prior to that, a dancer with the Batsheva Ensemble and Inbal Pinto Theater Dance Company, another of Israel’s leading companies with which she toured internationally.
Zvi Sahar, University of Maryland. - Zvi Sahar, whose “Salt of the Earth,” a presentation of puppetry and hand-painted miniature sets combined with live filmmaking and projected video feeds, was featured in the NextWave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Sharon Vazanna, Muhlenberg College, Pennsylvania.- Vazanna is a dancer and choreographer. Her choreography has been performed in Germany, Israel, Italy, Spain and Sweden.
Read the entire post at eJewish Philanthropy.