At rally, cultural sector questions reopening plan
Finance Minister Israel Katz meets Aviv Geffen, pledges ‘dedicated team’ to tackle industry’s problems
A plan for the summer concert season was released Monday as the arts and culture sector raised objections to the government’s reopening plan at a demonstration at the Reading 3 event hall in Tel Aviv on Monday.
Although Culture and Sport Minister Chili Tropper and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced on Sunday that theaters in Israel will reopen starting on June 14 on the condition that only 75% of the seats will be full and there will be no intermission, the arts community representatives participating in the demonstration Monday were still angry at how the arts community has been treated throughout the novel coronavirus crisis and the lack of clarity in the reopening plan.
In a separate initiative on Monday morning, Finance Minister Israel Katz met with musician Aviv Geffen, who has been active in the arts community struggle and played a prominent role in several previous protests, to discuss solutions to the culture sector crisis. Katz released a statement following the meeting in which he said that he found Geffen to be “an artist who cares about industry people and cares about the people behind the scenes. I set about setting up a dedicated team that would formulate tailor-made and quick solutions to the problems he presented in order to allow for as quick a return as possible to routine.” Geffen said, “The finance minister is working to find ongoing solutions and I thank him and the Minister of Culture and Sport who are working together to help us.”
While the slogan of the rally was, “Back to Work!” and the organizers released a list of planned summer concerts and events – including some by big names in the music industry, including Shiri Maimon, Marina Maximilian and Dudu Tassa – speaker after speaker criticized the lack of clear, detailed guidelines for the reopening. The organizers showed a video clip showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing that life in Israel is returning to normal, alongside photographs of packed beaches, parks and markets.
The guidelines that were released concern all stage shows, including theater, opera and comedy. Restrictions include an order that ticket purchases will be done online only, and families or groups can purchase a cluster of tickets and leave vacant seats between clusters. Many questioned why the community was not consulted when drafting these guidelines. The arts sector was the first to be closed and will be among the last to reopen. Many said they cannot earn a living under the reopening plan.
Yoni Feingold, the head of the producers’ organization and one of the organizers of the rally, said: “The reopening order is just a headline. In practice, this order leaves many in the industry with no livelihood and no work!” However, he promised that once the details are worked out by the time of the June 14 reopening date, “We will maintain public health according to clear instructions and return sanity to the public.”
The movie industry is feeling the pressure acutely because the big summer releases, such as Wonder Woman 1984 with Gal Gadot, have been postponed until at least the fall.
One movie producer who preferred to speak off the record said, “The subtext of all this that the artistic community is mostly on the Left, and they think Bibi is punishing them for all their criticism over the years by delaying the reopening of the arts.”
Director Avi Nesher and others in the industry have previously floated the idea of the government providing arts funding by putting artists to work in public projects, similar to the New Deal in the US during the Depression and have suggested that perhaps Katz’s commission can come up with a solution like this.
The singer Eliad said, “What is the difference between food and music? Music is food for the soul. There are people here who haven’t been working for a long time, it could end in a disaster.
It’s not clear to me what the difference is between opening the beach and the outdoor performances. We need a proper plan and a real solution.”
Linda Avitan, who runs Kolor Eli, a lighting and sound company, spoke for many at the rally when she said: “I’m telling you that this reopening order that came out is a death sentence for industry workers, with a reopening order such as we won’t be able to pay employees, it gives a band-aid to an industry in need of bypass surgery.”