The city of Netanya, which has positioned itself as one of the major cultural centers in Israel, hosted about 150 cultural managers from around the country for lectures, panels, and quality cultural performances
Among the participants: Minister of Culture and Sport, Limor Livnat, “Mr Television” Chaim Yavin, Executive Director of the Kameri Theatre, Noam Semel and more
For the first time in Netanya: Last week, the Netanya Municipality and the City Cultural Center hosted the annual conference for the Cultural Managers Association, participating about 150 managers from the field of Culture, from other municipalities and elsewhere. The conference, which took place in the Ramada hotel and Netanya College, opened last Tuesday and carried on throughout the week. During the conference major media personalities spoke and well-known artists performed for the managers.
The topic of the conference was “the Tasks and Goals facing Cultural Managers in Israel,” and opened with a panel entitled “Culture and Establishment,” which participated the journalist Uri Misgav, the Director General of the Israeli Department of Culture, Orly Fruman, Chairman of the Association, Dror Shor, Head of Culture in the Union of Local Governments, Ruth Dayan-Madar, and Head of the Division of Culture in the Tel Aviv Municipality, Iris Mor – Co-Chairman of the Associaion. Later, Yoav Kutner spoke of the affects of the cultural fringe on the mainstream, while journalist Noam Ben Zeev spoke about cultural education from a young age. Ben Zeev spoke with leading personalities from the field of education who deal with cultural consumerism in theatre and music.
The second day of the conference opened with a lecture “Revolution? From Mono-Channeled Television to a Sea of Reality,” which was presented by “Mr. Television,” Chaim Yavin. Afterwards, panels and additional lectures were held, among others about the influence of commercial television on cultural managers, led by Arad Nir – Editor of Foreign News for Channel 2 and a lecturer at Netanya College – and participating Executive Director of the Kameri Theatre, Noam Samal, journalist Merav Batito and the Head of the Department of Communications at Netanya College, Moti Neiger.
Marc Zarrouk, an expert on customer and goal oriented teams, discussed the “Power of ‘Togetherness’ in the Era of Social Networks.” Later, a panel entitled “Preserving the Culture” took place, participating, among others, Chairman of the Division for Hebrew Songs in the Department of Culture, Kobi Oshrat, Executive Director of AKUM, Yurik Ben David, and previous Chairman of AKUM Thelma Eligon. Participants of the conference later toured Netanya and reached “Tremolo,” the International Percussion Center, in the Poleg industrial area, where they met the center’s director, Tomer Yariv. They also met Netanya’s Kibbutz Kameri Orchestra, Yoni Roeh at the School for Music Professions, which was recently opened in the City market and Adi Yekutiel at the Interactive Independence Square.
It is important to note that samples of quality cultural performances were woven through the conference, including performances by artists Shlomo Gronich, Mati Suri, and the “Indiland,” “Shirim Bashdodit,” “Bana Habanot” and more.
The conference also participated Minister of Culture and Sport, Limor Livnat, Director General of the Department of Culture, Orly Fruman, Deputy and Standing-in Mayer of Netanya, Dr. Avital Laufer, Council Member in charge of Culture, Shoshana (Chuchi) Zilberberg, Director General of the Cultural Center, Chaimon Goldberg, VP of the Center, Beni Ephraim and more.
During the conference, the Minister of Culture and Sport stated: “I look to those people who dedicate days and nights to encourage quality cultural activity for the citizens, who must vie for the citizen’s attention in the face of the ‘Rating Monstrosities,’ in hopes that they will choose a play, a concert, a show from overseas or a new exhibition and not another night of Reality on screen”.
The Minister also commented on the cultural justice her department is leading towards and improving accessibility of Israeli culture to society as a whole, with a concentration on the geographical and social periphery in Israel: “We are holding free cultural events, such as plays for children and adults, concerts open to the public, collaborations with creators and theaters with repertoires and a wide variety of projects, which strengthen the social experience and not solely in the center of Israel.”
Deputy and Standing-in Mayer of Netanya, Dr. Avital Laufer, stated: “The fact that Netanya was chosen to host this prestigious conference, and the fact that we, the city, have been chosen as a leader in culture, for the second time running, is proof of the vast cultural efforts of the city. These efforts are collaborative with the city’s educational institutions: Preschool Enrichment Centers, the Culture Package (Sal Tarbut) activities in schools, the minstrel schools, and leading art schools. This year we have also expanded our illustrious cultural ambassadors’ program in high-schools. The combination between culture and education is a significant stepping stone towards enrichment and expanding the horizons of students in the city and educating them to become consumers of culture in their adulthood.”
