Arting Jerusalem was originated in the belief that art possesses the power of change, and that art’s natural place is the open space, amidst people. Arting Jerusalem was done with a desire to reveal the art: to expose it to people who don’t necessarily attend museums and art galleries.
Arting Jerusalem is an art project who aims to give an experience to Jerusalem's people.
This is a project that treats art as a social – rather then class-related – tool, to expose as much people as possible to the adventure of art, doing so with spreading colors and interests in sites spread in Jerusalem.
Creating in Jerusalem is not a simple thing. An artist who creates an art work in Jerusalem finds himself, often, straggling with the political, cultural and historical meanings that go along with every creation in the city. Arting Jerusalem tried to create art to who ever Jerusalem for him is a place where he wakes up to in the mornings, go to work and walk the dog in, love and hate.
The name Jerusalem allows a separation from the names of the city in the local languages (Yerushaliam in Hebrew and El kuds in Arabic) which allows us to pace into the neutral.
In Arting Jerusalem there was a wish to leave the common dogmatic approaches towards this city behind. A wish (maybe naively) to create in an emotional manner – in a way that will rid of the city’s burden of history.

The foreign artists participating are artists who took part in the social project UNIDEE which takes place every summer in the city of Biella which lies in the north of Italy. The project is headed by the artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. The foreign artists will be joined by local artists, mostly from Jerusalem, with similar backgrounds in art. The Jerusalem artists have a common cause bringing them together, love for their city and a strong desire to create in it.
All the participating artists in Arting Jerusalem were chosen because of their strong social conscience. The artists, whom come from different mediums, will try to defuse the poisons that Jerusalem inhales daily, by simple and refreshing creativity.

The act of choosing Jerusalem as the project’s center was not an easy one. Due to the political and emotional tense related to the city, I felt obliged to be extra-careful. The artists; who were aware to this sensitivity and to the political implications of creating in Jerusalem, were willing to do a project in Jerusalem, knowing that this event is to harm no one’s feelings. Such offense to any of Jerusalem’s residents will undermine the basic aim of Arting Jerusalem.

Liron Meshulam
Jerusalem 2003