Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival

Well, in exploring the web and looking for musical events in Jerusalem, I found The Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival.

This caught my attention for a number of reasons, but the first was that the site is available in English and Hebrew, but not Arabic. So, it seems to me that it's clearly meant for a particular audience. Then, I looked at the sponsors and benefactors, and many (most) of the sponsors and benefactors are based in the U.S. and Europe, and my guess (based on names) is that many of those who provide funding for the festival are Jewish or connected to Judaism in some way. Also, it's interesting to note that the music being featured is mostly European.

I wonder, what are the political ramifications about a festival like this that seems to be intentionally exclusionary? (And this is not to say that Palestinians don't have festivals that are exclusionary as well.) What might the Arab Jews in Jerusalem think of this? I find that question particularly interesting since they can at least access and read the website, etc. yet it seems that "Europeanness" is very important in this festival.

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