Huldai
צילום: יריב כץ
Happy birthday Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv residents getting ready to party. Three years from now first Hebrew city will turn 100, celebration plans in high gear
Tel Aviv will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2009, and the year-long events to mark the occasion will be hard to miss. These include a facelift for Tel Aviv, visits by mayors of large cities and musicians from abroad, and spectacular productions that will show off Tel Aviv as an international center of culture and tourism. Some NIS 100 million (USD 22 million) will be raised for these activities.
For the past month Tel Aviv’s city hall has been gearing up for the events, which will likely be among the most grandiose ever seen in Tel Aviv, or in fact in Israel. Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai has established a public committee whose job will be to decide on the type of events to be held.
Tel Aviv (Photo: Moshe Ozeri)
Former Finance Minister Avraham (Beige) Shochat will head the committee. A municipal company has recently been set up whose entire function will be to stage the festivities and carry out the projects in 2009.
Funds and donations
Tel Aviv officials are aware that producing such a large-scale event and making it into a national project require that large sums of money be raised. They are hoping that the government will involve the Tourism Ministry, and they are pinning their hopes on Shochat’s connections with the various government ministries and the Knesset.
The hope is that the government will get involved, and that the Ministry of Tourism will instruct its offices around the world to promote the events. It is also hoped that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will publicize the events during his visits abroad.
A large part of the funding for the events will come from abroad. The money will be raised using the time-honored Israeli method of sending delegations to Jewish communities throughout the world. The organizers also intend to raise money by having large Israeli corporations sponsor the event.
What Type of Celebrations?
The public committee is scheduled to meet for the first time in the coming weeks. The committee - whose 50 members include representatives of the arts, literature, dance, theater, and sports, as well as academics, architects, and environmentalist organizations - will include a smaller steering committee that will suggest ideas for performances and decide which events to select. An average of two events will be held every month during 2009.
The biggest problem will be to decide what type of events to include. The celebrations will be divided into two parts: projects to be carried out throughout the city, and events. The projects scheduled for completion in 2009 include renovations on Ibn Gvirol Street at a cost of some NIS 70 million (USD 16 million), razing and then rebuilding Dizengoff Square, renovating Habimah, the National Theater, at a cost of some NIS 30 million (USD 7 million), rebuilding the old fairgrounds at a cost of NIS 30 million and completing the “Jaffa slope” project at a cost of some NIS 60 million.
The celebrations will begin with two events, one to be held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem with long-time residents of Tel Aviv as guests, and the other a show that is expected to cost a half million shekels. In addition, a festive cabinet meeting will open with an announcement about the 100th anniversary of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and a festive meeting of the Tel Aviv city council will be attended by former mayors of Tel Aviv and mayors of Tel Aviv’s twin cities, and is expected to cost NIS 50,000 (USD 12 million).
Starting in 2008, Tel Aviv will attempt to create a festive atmosphere for city residents by asking them to help choose a symbol for the 100th anniversary celebrations, holding photography contests and contests for screenplays about Tel Aviv, and carrying out a special song project, at a total cost of some NIS 700,000 (USD 157,000). The city will also publish books of aerial photos of Tel Aviv-Jaffa (at a cost of some NIS 200,000, or USD 45,000), and a book about 100 artists who worked in Tel Aviv (at a similar cost). Israeli schools will be instructed to add lessons on the founding and development of the first Hebrew city to their curriculum.
Tel Aviv International
But the list above is only partial: Tel Aviv is apparently planning international events such as a UNESCO conference, and a project in which artists from large cities all over the world make sculptures to be placed throughout Tel Aviv. The opening performance of the 100th-anniversary celebrations, to take place at Ganei Yehoshua, will be conducted by Zubin Mehta, and will feature a performance by Barbra Streisand or another well-known artist.
During April 2009 a series of festive concerts will be held with musicians such as Yitzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, and Daniel Barenboim, and leading orchestras and operas from all over the world, such as La Scala, will visit Tel Aviv.
The Viennese opera house has expressed willingness to come as a guest of the Philharmonic. In addition, an exhibit from New York’s Museum of Modern Art will be shown in Tel Aviv, and the opera “Aida” will be held in the Yarkon Park.
