PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

Victoria Hanna is an experimental vocalist, born into an Orthodox Sephardic rabbinical family in Jerusalem. Azriel Cohen is a visual artist, born to an Orthodox Ashkenazic rabbinical family and raised in Canada. Both are classically trained in their fields. Both have been on a creative quest that is simultaneously inspired by deep study of their religion-of-origin as well as explorations into the realms of intuition and encounters with diverse cultures and faiths around the world. Today both of them are rooted in Jerusalem yet travel around the world with their art, and are involved in an ongoing dialogue about insiders/outsiders, and the relationship between Jerusalem and the rest of the world. They are privileged to engage in uncommon interactions with tremendously diverse cultures around the world, including Indian, Palestinian, African, Japanese, Eastern European, Native American, and Mongolian.

In Jerusalem they remain connected to what is "outside" and refuse to be hermetically enclosed. Outside of the Holy Land they present their conservative roots as a treasure that they grew out of. Artistically, both are very connected to modern world, to technology and multimedia.

They did not stay in classical orientation, though their creative roots are there. Both of them have been breaking out of boxes artistically and moving between many contrasting cultures along the way.

They met in Jerusalem about five years ago and immediately connected as friends journeying the worlds of spirit and creativity. Since then they have inspired and supported one another.

The work of both artists relates to a world that is growing in paradoxes. It is simultaneously shrinking and expanding, unifying and fragmenting. There are both evolving ecological and the environmental movements and technology that progressively alienates; the bridges of globalization and the schisms of international terrorism; tolerance and fundamentalism; enormous numbers of returnees to traditional religion alongside growing radical spiritual experimentation. Now maybe more than ever in history, much of the world is pulled in two directions at the same time – towards the promise of the future and towards the heritage of our past.

"Heritage and Freedom" was born out a desire to share the fruit of the artists creative and spiritual journeys and to facilitate collective explorations with people around the world about the riches of our past, the possibilities of future and how this interfaces with our relationship with The Other.

The program includes an art installation, musical performances, vocal and painting workshops and a panel discussion.