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A Late Summer Night at the Israel Museum

contact point at the israel museum august 2015 by deena levenstein (10)
An improvisational and experimental performance in the art garden that combined computers, vocals and acoustic instruments

The Israel Museum in Jerusalem has many amazing cultural events throughout the year such as the kite festival, the wine tasting festival and many concerts. But my favorite is a summer time late-night party conceptualized and created by Season of Culture in cooperation with the museum.

Contact Point, which was last night, has the museum opened one night a year, from 8 pm until 3 am with 24 art “points” to be experienced throughout the museum, inside and out. For example…

contact point at the israel museum august 2015 by deena levenstein (4)
Nimrod (Yitzhak Danziger, 1939), one of the museum’s pride and joys, was copied using 3D printers nearby.
contact point at the israel museum august 2015 by deena levenstein (3)
Looking on at all the mini-Nimrods created using a 3D printer
10 men in the Israeli Art Gallery created "textile" from old museum catalogues.
10 men in the Israeli Art Gallery spent all night creating “textile” from catalogues.
Many outdoor features of the Israel Museum were lit up for the occasion. Here you can see the Shrine of the Book.
Many outdoor features of the Israel Museum were lit up for the occasion. Here you can see the Shrine of the Book (actually it’s a picture of my sister).

One of the most beautiful “points” was artist, composer and musician Maya Belzitsman’s music which she created based on past museum catalogues and performed on cello with singing in an art gallery.

It seems this isn’t only my favorite event; this year was sold out with around 5,500 people in attendance.

The beauty of Contact Point is that it is attractive to a wide audience. It was especially heartwarming to join what I coined as the most clean cut dance party you’ll ever attend.

contact point at the israel museum august 2015 by deena levenstein (8)
An earphone party with two DJs playing on two different stations takes place on the Ida Crown Plaza – can’t get a more beautiful venue for dancing late into the night.

Yes, you’ll mainly find young adults dancing it out, but there are also plenty of middle aged people and parents with kids, all having fun together.

Jerusalem has many unique and exciting events. When you visit, it’s worth finding out what you can attend to get a taste for the city’s modern culture, not just its history.

Post and photos by Deena Levenstein

Author

Deena Levenstein

Deena Levenstein is a writer and social-cultural entrepreneur in Jerusalem. She creates and hosts events and runs "Things to do in Jerusalem," a Facebook group of handpicked cultural events in the city. In her spare time she blogs at http://deena.co/.

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