Indo-Israel cultural meet to foster creative dialogue

New Delhi, September 9 “Folklore doesn’t have borders. A folktale can be told by anyone from any culture. One just needs to keep the audience and context of the story in mind,” says Aliza Shenhar, an expert on folklore from Israel, with over 10 books and 90 articles on the subject to her credit. Shenhar and five other experts from various fields like Benjamin Z Kedar, historian; David Ofek, documentary filmmaker; Mira Magen, writer; Nirith Nelson, art curator and Vardi Kahana, photographer, will gather for the first time as part of a day-long cultural colloquium at the Capital on Wednesday. They, along with cultural exponents from India like documentary filmmaker Muzaffar Ali and artist Aparna Caur among others, will discuss means to preserve cultural identities. The colloquium, called “Preserving Cultural Identities in Today’s World,” is an effort towards bringing together creative minds to foster cultural dialogue between the two countries.

“There are many Indian folktales like the Panchatantra which have been adapted to Israeli culture. Also stories about palace women have been adapted from Indian folklore,” says she, who recalls listening to folktales from her mother. “In the today’s context, it is important to promote folklore since it mirrors stories about humanity,” she says, whose latest book Women’s Voices, focuses on women from the Old Testament in Israel.

Documentary filmmaker David Ofek, who made the documentary No. 17 on suicide bombing in Israel, will also be present.

“This will be a great opportunity to see how Indian filmmakers work, and how the diversity in their culture influences their work,” says Ofek who studied Satyajit Ray’s films as a student at the Sam Spiegel School, Jerusalem. This is his second visit to India.

“I have seen Bollywood films and there isn’t a similar scope for commercial cinema in Israel. But there are a lot of similarities in art cinema between both countries,” he says, who adds that he would like to make documentaries on Indian migrants in Israel in April next year.