Archive | 2010 | October | 19

In new joint initiative with Israel Antiquities Authority, over 900 scrolls will be filmed with advanced technology and uploaded on to one of a kind online archive.

The Israel Antiquities Authorities and Google onTuesday launched a joint initiative to create a digital archive of high definition images of the Dead Sea scrolls.

The scrolls, which were discovered broken up into more than 30,000 pieces were complied into 900 scrolls. Users on the website will eventually be able to participate in what the Antiquities Authority has named “the ultimate puzzle game,” in which they will be presented with the opportunity to piece the scrolls together from their shattered form and maybe discover new ways of reading the inscribed texts, eroded and faded over the years.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in and around more than 11 caves near the Dead Sea in the Judea Desert between 1946 and 1956.

The scrolls include the oldest known surviving copies of Biblical documents as well as evidence of the Second Temple.

Since their discovery, several attempts at preservation have been attempted, yet most of them have not managed to avoid damages caused to the delicate texts inscribed on goat skin.

The Antiquities Authority has expressed hope that the new internet initiative will manage to also serve as a preservation tool, and enable a more detailed and safe surveillance process.

The scrolls will be photographed using an advanced photography technique utilizing 11 different light waves which is supposed to reveal letters and inscriptions unapparent to the naked eye.

The camera being built for the project is valued at the cost of over $250,000 and will be positioned in the Antiquities Authority in Jerusalem.

The documenting process will begin within the next three months, after which Google will upload the archive to the new website.

The initiative will be funded by Leon Levy Foundation, Arcadia Fund and Yad Hanadiv Fund.

Source: Haaretz.com

Most of the Israeli exhibitors are small and not well-known, but they hope that exposure at the international food convention will provide a breakthrough.

PARIS – The Israeli pavilion at the Sial food convention is sandwiched between those of Portugal and Britain. Some 20 Israeli companies have come to exhibit their wares as part of Sial 2010, The Global Food Marketplace convention in Paris.

Five Israeli companies won prizes for innovation at Sial, beating 1,500 other competitors. Tempo won for its flavored shandies; Sugat for its low sodium salt; Olia for its fig product line, as well as a mix of garlic and kumquat; Roy chocolate for its liqueurs in three flavors, and a praline package that opens up; and Sanlakol, which offered tomato sauces in individual plastic servings.

Most of the Israeli exhibitors are small and not well-known, but they hope that exposure at the international food convention will provide a breakthrough. Sial bills itself as an event for all those involved in the food industry: Retail, trade, manufacturing, catering and food services, “Where business and innovation meet.”

Sial is held every other year in the French capital with about 150,000 people in attendance. They want to check out the latest innovations in the food industry, build and strengthen business relationships between some of the 5,700 exhibitors, and gain the attention of some 1,500 journalists covering the fair.

The Israeli exhibit is a bit different from that of many other countries. For example, Italy identifies itself with such local staples as pasta and Parmesan cheese, while Japan emphasizes various sushi products. But the Israeli exhibit shows a much wider range of products including chocolate, bourekas, energy drinks, honey and granola. It also features many products more traditionally associated with Israel such as tehina, halva, pita bread, coffee with cardamom, and olive oil.

There are a large number of new innovative products among the Israeli offerings this year: Vinagrette with coffee; tiny pita breads which do not tear; and energy bars with tomato, onion and olive flavorings. Four companies from the Arab sector are displaying their wares, including the Nina bakery from Haifa, which produces the mini pitas.

“We are here after six years in which we didn’t display, and it is clear that Israel’s innovativeness does not stop with high tech, but exists also in consumer products,” said Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute director general Avi Hefetz. “This is the first time all these companies have participated in the exhibition, and the Arab sector is also well represented. Company representatives have come mostly to meet buyers and chains to develop new markets,” he added.

Large Israeli food companies did not exhibit as part of the Israeli food pavilion. Instead, they cooperated with major international firms and placed themselves by product category. For example, Wissotzky Tea was in the tea pavilion, Prigat was in the juice section and Tempo was with the drinks companies.

Israeli Arab celeb Futna Jabber, who participated in the Big Brother television reality show, is holding demos at the Israeli pavilion at Sial. The Export Institute enlisted Jabber, whose husband runs a Tel Aviv restaurant, to conduct taste tests for a movie to be broadcast on the Food channel.

Source: Haaretz.com

Hundreds of artists to welcome visitors during Love Art Create Art event, celebrating start of Tel Aviv’s exhibition season

Tel Aviv-Jaffa has opened its gates to visual art lovers as part of the “Love Art. Create Art” event, in an effort to prove that culture still has its place among the parking issues, traffic jams, infrastructure, and high-rise construction in the city.

Love Art. Create Art is the opening shot in Tel Aviv-Jaffa’s exhibition season. In honor of its ninth celebration, 75 galleries, exhibition spaces and museums (including the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Nachum Gutman Museum and the Rubin Museum) will extend their opening hours into the small hours of the night while offering free admissions. In addition, 250 artists will open their studios to the public and allow visitors to enjoy their creations.

This time around, the activities won’t be limited to closed spaces, and will fan out into the city streets. From 7 pm on Thursday new works of art that include sound as their main component will be on display in public, under the title Hearing Art. This will allow those who wish to wander among the galleries and museums to gain impressions from vocal works of art in the so called open spaces of Tel Aviv’s cement enclosed parks and avenues.

The Ganei Yehoshua Park, Tel Aviv’s port and the Yarkon River are among the venues where special exhibitions will be held in honor of the celebrations.

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