First 'Jerusalem-Mumbai Festival' to be held in Mumbai on Feb 15, 16

The first 'Jerusalem-Mumbai Festival' will be held in the capital of Maharashtra this week to showcase the special links between the two cities and to promote ties between India and Israel, a municipal official here has said.

The two-day festival starting on February 15 will seek to promote artistic cooperation in the diverse fields of culture, such as culinary art, music and dance.

On the first day, people with invitation will be allowed to participate while the festival will be open to the public on February 16.

In the first such collaborative cultural event for the Jerusalem municipality in an Asian city, Jerusalem-Mumbai Festival looks to showcase the special links between the two cities while demonstrating their unique cultural traditions, the municipal official told PTI.

"The event is also an opportunity to promote collaborations between Jerusalem and Maharashtra in the cultural domain and will serve as another milestone in the growing partnership between the two countries. We hope that it will inspire artists from Jerusalem and Mumbai to work together", she said.

"Jerusalem has become a lively international cultural centre and is a source of inspiration for creators and artists today, as it has been for many centuries," the Jerusalem municipality quoted the city's Mayor Moshe Lion as saying.

The festival creates a platform for future fruitful cooperation among artists, as well as in various potential fields, such as tourism, cinema, high-tech, the official said.

"The Jerusalem-Mumbai Festival is an outcome of our city's amazing cultural growth, and a wonderful opportunity to let the Mumbai audience experience the authentic Jerusalem flavour," Lion said.

The biggest commercial success of Israeli cinema in 2019, The Mossad, a hilarious comedy, will be screened at the festival in the presence of its director Alon Gur Arye, who would also be taking questions from the audience after the screening.

Amongst other activities, the festival will also witness two collaborating chefs Ilan Garusi from Jerusalem and Amninder Sandhu from Mumbai who will demonstrate special fusion meals. Sandhu was recently in Jerusalem in connection with the preparation for the festival.

A Jerusalem Municipality official said that a decision was taken to promote such collaboration between India and Israel during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Jewish state in July 2017.

The Jerusalem municipality has done such cultural collaborations in cities like Prague, Moscow and Brussels in line with its tradition to expose young artists to different cultures.

A gala inauguration event is planned for February 15 in the presence of Maharashtra's Minister of Culture Amit Deshmukh, and Lion, though the officials could not confirm the latter's presence at the event.

The festival will take place on the lawns of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Museum.