A personal account of celebrating the Naked Sea event anniversary last Thursday night.
In September of last year year Spencer Tunick came down to the Dead Sea and brought along with him throngs of reporters, environmentalists and 1500 people loaded on buses from around Israel who bared all in the hot sun in the name of art, and brought attention to the plight of a world’s natural treasure, the Dead Sea. The event was exposed (no pun intended) to half a billion people globally and was what I and the masses see as the start of the movement. This year we returned with Tunick to float again.
We see a movement. On the one year anniversary of Spencer Tunick’s 2011 historic Naked Sea installation, Ari Fruchter (Executive producer of the Naked Sea), Shlomit Yarkony and John Sekulow of SaveOurSea.org.il together with Ben Or Consulting/Communications, Hila, Anat Rosilio, and Iris Teitelbaum put together a flawless (The only thing missing was a few thousand more people) event that kept the momentum going with a Pre-Dawn event for 500 plus that included live music (Produced by Iris, Alex Gutman and Jam Lebo) performances by musical artists such as Ari Gorali, RebbeSoul, Tali Birenberg, Yotam Aluf, Tal Dalal and Shmuel Lebovic, and the duo of Ya’akov Lev Sameach and Roni Adar renowned Israeli ethnic percussion masters on the shores at En Bokek, and pre-sunrise talks by Daphne Leef, Social Protest leader and Spencer who is not only a world renowned photographer and artist but also an ardent environmentalist and a strong supporter of Israel.
There was an Israeli group dressed as pirates (symbolizing the greed of industry) on a raft that lead the hundreds of people in the water to shout out slogans as the media looked on, interviewed attendees and shot photos. Spencer took the opportunity to shoot some more choreographed shots that symbolized the shrinking of the water levels, by making us (yes. I did take part again) get into a human ring with our hands in the air to form a circle and then narrow the circle to symbolize the shrinking of the sea. Daphne Leef spoke about social issues such as the hotel workers from places such as Dimona who felt handcuffed from enjoying the dead sea and joining us in our social activism. Spencer spoke about returning and how he is one of the deeply concerned about this national and world treasure that has been exploited by industry for its natural resources and mismanaged by successive governments.
Thousands of people from around the world visit the shores of the Dead Sea every year to cure such ailments as psoriasis and other skin conditions. John Sekulow and Graham Lubin who sadly was unable to make it, head Save our Sea.org and suffer from psoriasis. The Dead Sea to them and thousands of others globally is a natural therapy, the only type of its kind on the planet, because of the minerals, the sun and it being the lowest spot on the planet.
If you are concerned about the Dead Sea and oppose its demise due to greedy industrialists and indifferent politicians, then we urge you to take action and join this growing movement to bring the Dead Sea back from the Dead. By current estimates, it will be reduced to a pond within the next 50-100 years. The movement is growing. The momentum is building.
The public is increasingly getting more concerned. Israeli Knesset members are listening. We must keep this momentum going! Be a part of it!This our national treasure. It is our duty to keep the Dead Sea alive for us and the world.
The growing population’s increasing consumption of water is one reason the Dead Sea is shrinking. Peaceful family planning education and safe recycling of all human-generated waste materials would help to save it.