At the age of 150, Chaim Nachman Bialik can look back with satisfaction as someone who accomplished quite a bit in his life and in his death, And even recently wrote a nice column for Time Out, but the national poet is not resting on his laurels even when he is in eternal rest: this year will be the 150th anniversary of his birth and the birthday party will span a multitude of events throughout the city throughout the year. The events will open the day after tomorrow (Wednesday, 12.14) with a concert A celebration of Bialik’s songs at the Culture Hall in Tel Aviv, when under the sexy title “The stars cheated me” the best Israeli artists will appear, among them Berry Sakharof, Rita, Shlomi Shaban, Alon Olarchik, Esther Rada, Teddy Ngusa, Kilpa Theater and more.
In the summer they will return. Literary event in the courtyard of Beit Bialik (Photo: Neta Alonim)
Bialik led the transformation of the city into a cultural and literary center, after immigrating to the Land of Israel and establishing his home in Tel Aviv, and the municipality of Tel Aviv-Jaffa announced today its plans to continue the national poet’s birthday celebrations. Some highlights:
- In the summer months, Beit Bialik will reopen after renovation and reconstruction work, in a particularly festive event.
- To commemorate the poet’s memory in July, a night opera featuring Bialik’s songs will be staged at Trumpeldor Cemetery; An innovative adaptation of Bialik’s work produced and performed by Kalifa Theater.
- Launch of the Beit Bialik website and the launch of the Bialik Archive in a unique collaboration with the National Library. During the last years, the staff of the National Library worked hard and scanned all of Bialik’s writings including: letters, manuscripts, letters, dedications, essays including children’s poems, translations, photographs and more. All archival material will be made available to the general public for the first time.
- 6 new videos of voice artist Victoria Hanna, winner of the Rosenblum Award for Performing Arts on behalf of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality, in which she performs and composes Bialik’s songs for toddlers.
- 3 exhibitions related to Bialik and his friends, one at Beit Reuven Rubin, the second at the Nachum Gutman Museum and the third at Beit Agnon in Jerusalem.
- During the year, Beit Bialik in cooperation with Israel Railways will present a new exhibition at the Shalom train station in Tel Aviv-Jaffa curated by the yart project: Bialik’s poems accompanied by contemporary works of art and classic illustrations for his poems.
- In April, an elegant catalog was published which will bring together all the art exhibitions presented at the Bialik House over the last decade in the collections of Dr. Samdar Shafi.
- After the opening of the Bialik House, the house’s literary events will return, and in the meantime, a rich and diverse literary event will be held with the participation of the best poets, writers and literary scholars in Israel.
Turned Tel Aviv into a city of culture. Haim Nachman Bialik (photo: Zoltan Kluger, editor-in-chief)
“Bialik was deeply involved in the public life of the city and the country along the way and always had something to say about the emerging reality,” said Mayor Ron Huldai upon announcing the celebrations. “Among other things, in his vision he saw Tel Aviv as a healing city. Here, the sea and its waters were supposed to serve as an attraction to heal the body and soul of visitors. Today, ninety years after Bialik’s death, we can proudly say that Tel Aviv-Jaffa is indeed a healing city A cure for dark views, a cure for evil spirits of seclusion, exclusion and various hatreds and as long as our spirit is with us, it will continue to be so until the end of generations.”