Archive of the Future was made possible thanks to the support of Tel Aviv Cultural Heritage Association and the Israeli Lottery Council for Art and Culture. We are currently in a race against time to document Israel’s first generation of intellectuals while they are still alive.

If you support our quest, kindly donate now to enable us to continue and develop this project, please contact us by mail:  info@archiveofthefuture.com

 The question of the archive is not a question of the past…but rather a question of the future, the very question of the future, question of a response, of a promise and of a responsibility for tomorrow

Jacques Derrida, Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression, 1996

Israel’s first generation of intellectuals is slowly disappearing. With them disappear the memories of Israel’s rich and unique cultural heritage. Based on the belief that “there is no future without a past”, ‘Archive of the Future’ aims to document these intellectuals.

By putting an emphasis on their inspiration and their special connection to their parents’ origin, their places of birth and residence, the foundations and emergence of the local cultural language is being explored, creating a fascinating mosaic of the cultural evolution of Israel. What makes this melting pot which is considered ‘the Israeli Culture’? What did these people bring with them from their homelands? What did they carry over from their private homes? How did it influence the local culture? How were these icons influence by life in the emerging state of Israel?

The project was initiated in 2011 by Noa Karavan Cohen & Smadar Timor with the support of the Foundation for the Conservation of Tel Aviv’s Cultural Heritage.

We have since identified more than 100 intellectuals aged 60 and over from all cultural disciplines. By documenting these key figures, we wish to create an archive of portraits of those who shaped the Israeli Culture, so that their heritage is preserved for future generations.

So far we have documented six writers and poets. Their interviews, combined with personal photos and archive footage were edited into short films which were premiered in May 2015 at the DocAviv International Documentary Film Festival. The raw footage of the full interviews is now available on this site together with the transcripts of the interviews and personal photos of the interviewees.

The raw materials were edited into short films that create a contemporary, interactive web-doc series. The films are divided into cross sections such as: childhood, family, identity, place, work and culture. Thus, viewers can create their unique narrative mosaic based on their personal interests.

Initiators and Directors:

Noa Karavan Cohen & Smadar Timor, both have a long standing experience in initiating, curating and producing artistic events, international conferences, exhibitions, video installations, documentary films and art in public spaces.

In 2002 they founded Mama Productions, an International platform based in Israel, France and Italy which promotes cultural projects of multiple disciplines:

  • Raising awareness of the Modern Movement’s Architectural Heritage Assets in the White City of Tel Aviv.
  • Connecting artists to art projects, installations and exhibitions
  • Now You See Me! International Public Art Short Film Contest in collaboration with the Louvre Museum in Paris

Sponsors:

Tel Aviv Cultural Heritage Association

The foundation was founded in 2005 by cultural figures from different fields, united in their love of Israel’s cultural heritage. The foundation has about 200 members, all of whom are concerned about the preservation of Israel’s cultural legacy. The foundation strives to protect and preserve Israel’s cultural treasures and to promote awareness to these treasures. For the past few years ‘Archive of the Future’ has been the foundation’s flagship project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HaPais Council for the Culture and Arts

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