Abigail Klein Leichman
June 7, 2017

The sixth annual Jerusalem Design Week will take place June 8 to 15, 2017, across multiple venues in Jerusalem’s Talbiyeh neighborhood.

More than 150 Israeli and international designers will participate in 40 exhibitions and projects set up in Hansen House Center for Design, Media and Technology; the Natural History Museum; the Museum of Islamic Art; and the Bezeq telephone company’s large industrial complex. Popup coffee shops and picnic areas will be opened at all the venues.

Public exhibitions, street performances, music and live shows will kick off Jerusalem Design Week on the evening of June 8, between 7:30 and 11. On Saturday, a “children’s island” will open on the lawn of Hansen House, where Hakaron Theater will lead workshops and family activities.

Hansen House photo via Facebook

The main exhibition at Bezeq, “Islands,” explores Jerusalem’s social, cultural and political role in light of the Western world’s isolationist trend that conflicts with the utopian concept of the global village.

The 40 works in the Islands exhibit were created by five Israeli designers teamed up with five designers from Europe.

For example, Jonathan Hope and Peter Orntoft made a 3D model of a glacier in Antarctica that is separating from the mainland and transforming into an island. Erez Nabi Pena and Marlène Huissoud created a string wall that is dipped in wax and lights up momentarily, meant to evoke walls around the world.

A Fashion Design Island will include a huge wardrobe installation with about 100 different versions of a jacket, some of which will be worn by participants in Design Week, and some for visitors to try on.

Itai Ohaly’s Product Design Island will function as a dynamic interactive display space where new objects will be created for visitors to Jerusalem Design Week. Photo: courtesy

Hadassah College Jerusalem will present “Cultural Islands: Local Interpretation of the Tree Cultures of Japan, Africa and the United States,” focusing on woodworking techniques common in those areas.

Every evening at Hansen Cinema, international design films will be screened alongside local films. In the attic of Hansen House, a popup store will offer event-themed merchandise and a selection of products from the participating designers.

This crayon carpet made by the Dutch Mu Gallery in Eindhoven with the Jerusalem Grotesca Studio, is on display at Jerusalem Design Week. Photo by Boudewijn Bollmann

The Jerusalem Design Cooperative — encompassing eight local designers from the disciplines of illustration, industrial design, ceramics, glass, textiles and fashion — will change and redesign the appearance of local storefronts along Aza Street during the week of the show.

In conjunction with Jerusalem Design Week, special design tours are planned at the Israel Museum and Museum of Islamic Art.

Jerusalem Design Week is the flagship project of the Hansen House and is made possible by the Jerusalem Development Authority in cooperation with the Jerusalem Ministry of Affairs & Heritage and Jerusalem Municipality.

An information and visitor center will be set up at Hansen House, 14 Gedalyah Alon Street.

For more information, click here.

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