With towering trees made of light, flying acrobats, and psychedelic music, the Jerusalem Festival of Light seemed more like a big carnival for grown-ups than a forum for environmental art. Happily, many of the artists featured at the festival made sure to include sustainability and social responsibility in their designs. I found two innovative artistic installations that stood out.

The Department of Nocturnal Affairs

The first was The Department of Nocturnal Affairs, a whimsical effort to make the average citizen aware of the nighttime critters that are scampering around their streets as they sleep. We city dwellers tend to forget that we aren’t the only animals around, especially once it’s dark out.

At the Department of Nocturnal Affairs, they give you the opportunity to reflect upon a time when you encountered a nocturnal creature. A form is given to you to fill out, where you record the meeting–where did you  meet this animal? What did you observe?

At the end of the form, they ask you, “If (your animal) could vote, what issues would they be concerned about?”

The form is then typed up on adorable vintage typewriters, stamped and filed away with the DNA. According to the festival website, “The DNA hopes to raise awareness about the existence, intelligence, and fragility of these animals, by encouraging people to act as witnesses to their presence and behaviors.”

OVO

The second installation, OVO, was my favorite before I even knew of its environmental relevance. From all aspects it is stunning–a gigantic egg-shaped structure formed from 24 crossed spiral pairs, resting on a shallow pool of water. The experience of walking through it is remarkable, as the spiral structure lends both a feeling of tranquility and introspection.

The best part of the installation is the effort the artists put into creating an eco-friendly piece of art. The wood used for the structure is sourced from local suppliers who work with a sustainable forest system, the lighting system uses only LED lights, which uses far less electricity than normal lights, and it produces no waste at the end of the installation–every part is recyclable.

Looking up while in the OVO structure

It was a wonderful festival, one that brought people from all walks of life together to celebrate the beauty of the night. On for the next couple of weeks, visit the Old City of Jerusalem, at night, to catch the festival of lights.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ookTAU1bGgY[/youtube]

::Jerusalem Light Festival website

The post Jerusalem Festival of Light 2011 Brings Eco-Art to the Holy City appeared first on Green Prophet.

VIP barbecue by the pool. Champagne. Red carpets. Internationally recognized musicians. No, it wasn’t a glitzy awards show, just the launch of Kibbutz Ketura’s solar field, the first of its kind in Israel. It marked a turning point for renewable energy in Israel.

We all know that Israelis love to boast how green their country is–after all, they say, every home has a solar panel on its roof! “We heat all our water with the sun!” they cry earnestly. However, in most other environmental areas, Israel has been lagging behind other countries. Indeed, it took Arava Power Company roughly five years to make their dream of a solar field a reality.

Yossi Abramowitz, co-founder of APC, recalls that he was shuttled between twenty-four different government offices before getting the necessary permits to open a solar field.

Cutting the ribbon includes and is not limited to (left to right) Yossi Abramowitz, Dr. Einat Wilf, Dr. Wolfgang Bischoff, MK Orit Noked, Udi Gat, Dr. Uzi Laundau, Ed Hoffland, and David Rosenblatt

The launch itself was an incredibly festive event, including tours of the kibbutz, champagne, international rapper Shyne, and fireworks. Our day started in the early afternoon, when nothing much was really going on. There were schoolchildren visiting the kibbutz, students from the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies handing out hats to visitors, and a red carpet covering the dusty desert ground.

We were given a tour and shown some of the other innovative ventures that Kibbutz Ketura is involved in, including a small-scale algae farm, and according to kibbutzniks, the best coffee and cheesecake in Israel.

David Rosenblatt, Yossi Abramowitz and Ed Hoffland addressing the crowd.

The most unique thing, to me, was the familial atmosphere of the launch. Everyone was happy and excited to be there. You could tell that these weren’t businesspeople out to make some money–they were there in hopes of making the world a better place.

And indeed, there was a large emphasis on “tikkun olam,” the Jewish concept of fixing the world. “This is the worlds first solar field with a neshama (soul),” said co-founder of APC David Rosenblatt. One such example is the tithing of the solar field.

According to the traditional Jewish law of “pe’ah“, the owners of a field must leave the four corners of his field unharvested so that the poor may take from his field.

Similarly, the corners of Ketura Sun’s solar field have been dedicated to four different non-profit organizations, who will, over the next twenty years, benefit from the funds earned by each corner. The organizations are Jewish Heart for Africa, Bustan, the Elie Weisel Foundation for Humanity, and the Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center. Aside from that, Ketura Sun is committed to working with the local Bedouin communities, who hope to build the next solar field on their land.

Every good party needs a scandal, however, and this one was certainly no different. Rumors of SBY Solar blocking the event were flying, however, they weren’t taken all too seriously. “It’s a shame,” said Yossi Abramowitz, co-founder of APC.

“There’s doing business in good faith, and then there isn’t,” said an APC rep. Neither seemed to perturbed by the allegations, and were content to enjoy the days events, which culminated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony where Dr. Uzi Landau, minister of National Infrastructure, Dr. Wolfgang Bischoff, CEO of Seimens International, and singer David Broza, among many others, addressed the crowd with words and songs of goodwill.

The final event of the evening? International hip-hop artist Shyne performing his new single, “Solar Energy.”

Shyne’s performance.

The post Here Comes the Arava Sun at Kibbutz Ketura appeared first on Green Prophet.