Blog: Bringing the Dead Sea to Life Through Art and Music

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Paul Winter – Saving the Dead Sea

Here is a fantastic film by Israeli filmmaker Yuval Dax of musician Paul Winter talking about the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is shrinking at an alarming rate due to man's need for water from its tributaries for human and agricultural consumption from all sides of the Rift Valley. The Dead Sea is also being exploited and drained for its rich mineral resources notably the extraction of Potash. This is far more visible on the Israeli side as the sea is much shallower and can be seen receding very clearly over great distances about a meter a year at current rates.

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Paul Winter – Saving the Dead Sea
Nick Derry – Red Fox

Nick Derry – Red Fox

The lowest place on Earth is getting lower and lower. I have had the enormous privilege to be part of the Artists for Nature Foundation's project to raise awareness of the plight of this unique place. I'm working while the memories are still fresh! So happy to have opaque media in my repertoire again! Red Fox of the subspecies palaestina. In front of sink holes on the Israeli side of the Dead Sea with Jordan opposite. To find out more about Nick's work visit the Nick Derry Wildlife Artist Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/Nick-Derry-Wildlife-Artist-156193037758726/

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The Artists For Nature Dead Sea Project Makes TV Headlines

Israeli TV Channel 1 news report from March 29th on the Artists for Nature Bringing the Dead Sea to Life through Art and Music project 2017 http://192.118.60.6/radiomp4/2017/03/29/7669960.mp4  

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The Artists For Nature Dead Sea Project Makes TV Headlines
A Steppe Eagle flying over the Eilat Mountains

A Steppe Eagle flying over the Eilat Mountains

Here is some fantastic footage produced by Taiwanese photographer Chieh-Te Liang of a Steppe Eagle over the Eilat Mountains https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2foXyI--ubqaURjS1pvaHlobHc/view

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Chieh Te Liang’s video of our visit to Wadi Zarkee Main

Chieh Te Liang filmed the Artists for Nature in Jordan. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2foXyI--ubqWk53blBuTkhmYkk/view

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Chieh Te Liang’s video of our visit to Wadi Zarkee Main
MacQueen’s Bustard and Sandgrouse

MacQueen’s Bustard and Sandgrouse

Today the artists had a very early start to see the MacQueen's Bustard and the extremely elusive Sandgrouse. We set off at 5 am, which means in fact 4 am since the clock went an hour forward. With the very first sunlight we arrived at the hide close to the Egyptian border. Shortly later two Mac Queen's Bustartds started to display We watched them for a while and then hurried on to go to the goat farm of Celia a few kilometers further. Celia welcomed us with coffee and tea. Time went by, but the Sandgrouse didn't show up. Obviously they were also irritated by the time change. Anna Kirk-Smith started to prepare the background for her picture, Amir Balaban preferred to…

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The Desert Sparrow

From Amir Balaban we learned that the Desert Sparrow builds a large, hollow, round nest of sticks and twigs in which the female lay her eggs. The interior becomes a microclimate that keeps the eggs from becoming too warm under the hot Israeli sun, where temperatures can easily reach 50 degrees. The eggs now should not get warmer than the 38 degrees needed to develop the chicks - the adults do not even need to incubate them. Laurent Willenger had the good luck to observe the rare sparrows.

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The Desert Sparrow
En Avdat and the Ben Gurion Centre

En Avdat and the Ben Gurion Centre

Today the artists split in two groups. One part explored the National Park En Avedat, an expressive river bed with huge cliff formations, home to 6 pairs of breeding Griffon Vultures, plentiful ibex and  abundant lizard life! The other group went to the Ben Gurion's burial place, a lush oasis on the top of a hill, surrounded by a dramatic desert scene. The place is visited by a lot of different species of birds. Lizards, Ibexes and all kind of other animals and insects found a home here. Bruce Pearson saw an Egyptian vultures passing by and painted it in water colours.

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Palestinian, Israeli and Bedouin children for the Dead Sea

After the gathering at the Wadi David Nature Reserve where Israeli, Bedouin and Palestinian children met and worked with the Artists for Nature group. The children went on to the Dead Sea in the afternoon and spelled out their wish for the future: 'Save the Dead Sea'. Israeli filmmaker Yuval Dax created this image using a drone.

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Palestinian, Israeli and Bedouin children for the Dead Sea
Paul Winter at the Dead Sea Beach

Paul Winter at the Dead Sea Beach

American musician Paul Winter performing at the Dead Sea Beach. A celebration of the Sea's strange beauty and a lament for the Dead Sea's plight. The Dead Sea is shrinking at an alarming rate due to man's need for water from its tributaries for human and agricultural consumption from all sides of the Rift Valley. It is far more visible on the Israeli side as the sea is much shallower and can be seen receding very clearly over great distances. Video by Ranate Zoller Your browser does not support the video tag.

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Get-together in Wadi David

When King David had to hide from King Solomon, he went to the desert, to one of the nicest places in it. The Wadi David is a lush paradise in the middle of rough, reddish mountains and right above the Dead Sea. Two springs have created an oasis of wild life which is abundant and remarkably unperturbed by human presence. It's on of the best places for the artists to work in for this reason. Today the artists met here with a group of Palestinian, Israeli and Bedouin children and helped them see and record through drawing the miracles of this rich and abundant landscape.  

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Get-together in Wadi David
Two men – one dream: Peace!

Two men – one dream: Peace!

Professor Yossi Leshem from Israel and Mansour Abu Rashid from Jordan have worked very closely together for many years. It has not always been easy, and sometimes even very complicated. But they both won't give up, because they have a dream of peace, co-operation and preservation of the Dead Sea and the wildlife of the region . We asked them: What is it, that keeps you going? Mansour Abu Rashid answered: I'm an optimist that the future will be better than the past! I hope the Israeli government will accept the Arabic peace initiative because it is the only good proposal for the Israelis and for the Arabs to respect each other and to solve the Palestinian problem. This is my…

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From Deserts to Wetlands

Tuesday 21st March Trip 1: Up into the Negev Desert, not too far from Ein Gedi The artists, led by Yossi Leshem, trekked to find nesting Bonelli's Eagles in a ravine where eagles of this species have nested for over 40 years (Yossi did his MA on breeding raptors of this desert, and so was a mind of information). After a few red herring unused nests, we found the inhabited one, sporting 2 feisty (but hot) chicks, which were roughly 3-4 weeks old. It took a bit of finding, but the male (adult, approx 6-7 yrs) was on sentry-watch further up the mountain, and the female absent, hunting for food. Bonelli's have the longest talons relative to body-size of any…

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From Deserts to Wetlands
Impressions from the ride through Jordan

Impressions from the ride through Jordan

Have a look at our bus ride through Jordan:

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Over the River Jordan and into Israel

Monday 20th March The journey from the Dead Sea in Jordan to an equivalent latitude on the Israeli bank took the artists through the agricultural landscapes of the Jordan River on both sides of the Rift Valley. Mile upon mile of poly-tunnels, date plantations, strawberry fields, courgette-picking activity and road-side vegetable stalls. These farms need intense irrigation from the River Jordan, and are the mirrored economic drivers of both countries either side of this border river. [gallery columns="2" size="medium" ids="3862,3863"]   Home for the next few days is Ein Gedi Kibbutz Hotel - the first kibbutz to be founded in the Dead Sea region in 1942. It has been listed as a  worldwide botanical garden, and is simply stunning.... Once checked…

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Over the River Jordan and into Israel
Artist for Nature Dead Sea Project Hashtag #afndsp

Artist for Nature Dead Sea Project Hashtag #afndsp

We are using the hashtag #afndsp (Artists for Nature Dead Sea Project) to identify posts on social media, twitter etc that relate to the Bringing The Dead Sea to Life Project which is running now. This is a bold new project to raise global awareness to the plight of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is one of the most unique geographic formations in the world, supporting unique ecosystems and harboring historic and cultural treasures. The long-term decline of the water level is creating an ecological imbalance on both land and sea that will eventually destroy this unique and precious resource. The culture of environmental artists and nature lovers provides a unique, non-political platform for people of this war-torn region to connect to their natural environment…

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Extreme Jordanian Landscapes

Sunday 19th March First stop Wadi Zarkee Main.   For those not yet in the know a wadi is a valley, ravine, or channel that is dry except in the rainy season. From miniature oasis to raging torrent each wadi has multiple personalities depending upon the rainfall and the season. The artists made their way up the Wadi to find great places to paint. Some were drawn to the natural and some were drawn to the man-made.   [gallery size="medium" columns="4" ids="3779,3780,3781,3782,3785,3786,3787,3788,3783,3784,3789,3790,3791,3792,3793,3794,3795,3796,3797,3798" orderby="rand"]   Species studied include: Fan Tailed Raven; Barbary Falcon; Tristam's Grackle; Crag Martin and the delicate Tamarisks and Acacia trees. The tempting turquoise water in this wadi arises from 3 hot springs and proves a great place for…

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Extreme Jordanian Landscapes
A Dip in the Dead Sea!

A Dip in the Dead Sea!

After the workshops the Artists for Nature group took the plunge into the dead sea! ... and covered themselves in mud! [gallery ids="3751,3750,3749,3748,3747,3746" orderby="rand"]    

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Artist for Nature Education Workshop – Jordan

Over 150 Jordanian children attended the Artist for Nature workshop day on the 18t March 2017. Artists from around the world shared techniques and their love of nature with the young people.

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Artist for Nature Education Workshop – Jordan
Kibbutz Pitstop

Kibbutz Pitstop

We stopped on our travels for a breakfast at the amazing Kibbutz Sedi Eliyahu which has a focus on organic solutions to modern agricultural problems. Yossi explained about the Barn owls' nesting box scheme which had effectively reduced the rodent problem in the the Kibbutz and surrounding areas. This approach which has been in use for many years is seen as an exemplar and has been adopted across the border in Jordan too. The biological pest control project using Barn Owls and Kestrels effectively reduces the use of poisons by farmers in their battle against rodents and other pests. More than 3,000 (!) nesting boxes have been erected all over the country for the Barn Owls and the Kestrels. The professional…

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First Day and Opening Night

March 16th 2017 – Day 1 Please find a link to a downloadable catalogue of the Dead Sea project here. The rest of the artists arrive in Ben Gurion Airport after travelling from many corners of the globe. The first stop for them in a packed schedule is the Israeli Bird Ringing Center (IBRC) which is part of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and based in the Jerusalem Bird Observatory . A Blackcap (the commonest migrant in Israel) and a Blue throat amongst other species obliged us all with their presence in the nets. Apparently, according to IRBC manager, Dr Gideon Perlman, this little chap is a bit of a celebrity with local birders and must…

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First Day and Opening Night
Champions of the dump – White Storks

Champions of the dump – White Storks

Today we had a very early start to get out of Jerusalem before the Marathon started. But that gave us time to visit a dump in the North- East of Jerusalem. Minimum 1000 White Storks and Black Kites feed there every day. We stayed for a while and the artists went straight to work...  

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Arrived in Jerusalem!

Today almost all artists arrived in Tel Aviv and went to Jerusalem. While our friend James Coe got stuck in a snow storm in the US we landed in the nicest spring weather. Mosts of the artists visited the ringing station near the Knesset. Ysbrand arrived later, right in time for the introduction of the project by Jossi Leshem and later to give a speech himself. Than we had the pleasure to listen to a concert by Paul Winter. You heard him if you saw the video. And you will hear much more of him within the next days...

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Arrived in Jerusalem!
Let’s get started!

Let’s get started!

Dear friends of ANF, The preparations are going on now in full speed - tomorrow the Dead Sea Project starts. With 18 artists from all over the world we will try to bring the Dead Sea to live through art and music! Keep an eye on our daily blog! In the following two weeks we will give you a lot of interesting information. Best regards, The ANF Team

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Bringing the Dead Sea to Life

Bringing the Dead Sea to LifeThrough Art and Music A Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli Initiative 16-27 March 2017   More information on our Project page > Downloads (PDF): Bringing the Dead Sea to Life - Project information > Bringing the Dead Sea to Life - General program > Gazelles, Vadim Gorbatov - Russia Little green Bee eaters, Barry Van Dusen - USA Bearded Vulture over Masada, Martin Rinik - Slovakia

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Bringing the Dead Sea to Life

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