The mother of all festivals

The issue of women’s rights in Israel has made great progress in recent decades, but one must not ignore the fact that discrimination still exists, says Sigal Weissbein-Rozman, the artistic director of Holon’s upcoming Women’s Festival.

The six-day event will be attracting women from around the country for a celebration of arts and culture emphasizing female empowerment. The brainchild of Holon Municipality director-general Hana Herzman, the festival is in its 19th year and has become an annual attraction for the city, which puts a large emphasis on the arts.

Herzman felt strongly about the status of women in the community and strove to create an event focusing on celebrating women.

“Hana started the festival when the idea of female empowerment wasn’t as trendy,” says Weissbein-Rozman.

While Herzman is still involved in the planning, Weissbein-Rozman has been directing the festival for the past three years.

This year, in honor of the city’s 75th birthday, there will be 75 events from March 8 to 14 to discuss and celebrate women, including performances, exhibitions and seminars. They will take place in venues such as halls, residents’ homes, cafes and alternative spaces, with topics ranging from motherhood to promoting and advocating women’s issues. The event is in collaboration with the city’s adviser on women’s issues, Rama Elyakim.

Weissbein-Rozman was inspired to center this year’s event around the theme of motherhood. The title of this year’s festival, “ Imahut ,” has a double meaning: It translates to “motherhood,” but can also mean “non-essence.”

To create the 75 events, she drew on her own long career in the arts, which she began as an actress and performer in Israel and Europe. Three years ago, she returned to Israel following a six-year stay in the Netherlands, where she served as the cultural attaché at the Israeli Embassy in The Hague.

In that position, she was responsible for promoting and organizing events in the fields of dance, literature, art, film and theater. She also fostered mutual relations between museums, art academies and festivals in Israel and the Netherlands, hosting artists and planning visits for cultural professionals in both countries. During these years she was able to create partnerships with a diverse array of festival directors and cultural organizations.

On her return to Israel, she joined with the Holon Municipality’s Department for the Advancement of the Status of Women to carry out her vision for the festival, focusing on the role of women in Israeli society and how local culture portrays them. She says the internal discourse of females in society needs to be brought to light.

“Women in Israel are still at a disadvantage and are often portrayed as victims or as weak,” she says. “I want to open this topic to discussion, but I also want women to come and enjoy themselves.”

Panels and talks will cover the subject of motherhood and the generational elements of it, such as what defines a new generation of mothers. Professionals will take questions about the institution of motherhood, the maternal experience, the politicization of mothers, and the presence of mothers in the public sphere in Israel.

“The recognition of the importance of motherhood as a social and political institution, and as an event in the life of the individual, is part of the transition taking place in recent decades in the Western world and Israel in particular. This shift is reflected in the new approaches to contemporary psychoanalysis, feminist thinking, literature, art and social struc - tures,” explains Weissbein-Rozman.

“The works will relate to the concept of motherhood as a socio-political concept and from a personal perspective, and try to reveal the complexity of motherhood, the dilemmas and paradoxes inherent in it,” she adds.

On March 11, for instance, there will be a conference titled “The Voice of Mother: Other Voices of Motherhood.” It will include a panel titled “Things I’m Not Allowed to Say: The Challenges of Motherhood,” which will run in collaboration with leaders of the community. Dr. Orna Donath will give a talk about women who choose not to become mothers, and attorney Dana Naor Mande’el, director of the legal department at the Israel Women’s Network, will speak about the gap be - tween the law and reality when it comes to protecting mothers’ rights.

The well-known ensemble Tziporela will also perform a one-time show featuring actress and comedian Rebecca Ma - chiaveli on Friday, March 13. The comical ensemble will laugh about generational differences, and work to disprove the ste - reotype that women cannot be funny.

All events with the exception of some movie screenings, will be in Hebrew.

The festival coincides with Women’s History Month, which is internationally recognized in March; International Women’s Day always falls on March 8. Women’s festivals similar to the one in Holon take place around the world during this time. According the womens - festivals.org, there will be events in Santa Barbara, California; Sedona, Arizona; the Cayman Islands; Ireland; and Africa.

The Holon festival is not just for women, however. Weissbein-Rozman encourages women to bring their partners to some of the events. Obviously many of the activities are geared toward women specifically, but others will be of interest to men as well.

“My goal is simply to have guests come to the events and leave thinking differently,” she says. “I want them to get a different perspective on womanhood and Israeli society.”

For more information: (03) 502-3001
(03) 502-3001 or www.hth.co.il

Sigal Weissbein-Rozman, the artistic director of Holon’s upcoming Women’s Festival, prepares to celebrate and examine the role of women and mothers in Israeli society.