The Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation (IcExcellence) is a private cultural foundation which aims to identify, nurture, and support

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

's most outstanding artists. The foundation locates Israeli artists with potential for excellence in a wide variety of artistic fields, including

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

, music (classical, jazz, and Israeli), dance, theater, cinema,

product design Product design as a verb is to create a new product to be sold by a business to its customers. A very broad coefficient and effective generation and development of ideas through a process that leads to new products. Thus, it is a major aspect of n ...

, visual communication, fashion design, and writing. The foundation supports its chosen artists for a period of up to five years.The chosen people, Aviva Lori

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

The foundation

IcExcellence was founded by its managing director Rachel Marani, formerly Israel's cultural

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accor ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. It is financed by businesspeople, companies, and foundations from Israel and all over the world. The artistic advisory committees consist of 35 artists and public opinion makers, including six

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

laureates, all acting on a voluntary basis. Members include Dubi Lenz,

Gal Uchovsky Gal Uchovsky ( he, גל אוחובסקי; born September 27, 1958) is an Israeli screenwriter, producer, journalist, activist and Israeli TV personality. Early life Uchovsky was born in Hadera. His family moved to Vienna where his father studie ...

David Tartakover David Tartakover (דוד טרטקובר) (born 1944) is an Israeli graphic designer, political activist, artist and design educator. Biography David Tartakover was born in Haifa in 1944. His father, Dr. Jacob Tartakover, was a lawyer. His mother ...

, Michal Smoira-Cohn,

Chaim Topol Chaim Topol ( he, חיים טופול; born September 9, 1935), also spelled Haym Topol, mononymously known as Topol, is an Israeli actor, comedian, singer, film producer, author, and illustrator. He is best known for his portrayal of Tevye the ...

, Dani Caravan, Yossi Marhaim,

Mendi Rodan Mendi Rodan (Hebrew: מנדי רודן) (born 17 April 1929; died 9 May 2009) was an Israeli conductor and educator. Biography Mendi Rodan (Rosenblum) was born in Iaşi, Romania, one of three children of Solomon and Miriam Rosenblum. Mendi began p ...

Ohad Naharin Ohad () was the third son of Simeon; he is mentioned in Genesis 46:10. Ohad may also refer to: __NOTOC__ People Surname * Daniella Ohad, American design historian Given name * Ohad Benchetrit, Canadian musician * Ohad Cohen, goalkeeper for Hapoel ...

, Danny Gottfried, Ron Arad,

Asher Fisch Asher Fisch (Hebrew: אשר פיש) (born May 19, 1958, Jerusalem, Israel) is an Israeli conductor and pianist. Fisch began his career as an assistant of Daniel Barenboim and an associate conductor of the Berlin State Opera. He made his United S ...

, Gershon Bram, Alex Padua, and

Micah Lewensohn Micah Lewensohn ( he, מיכה לבינסון, (August 27, 1952, In Jerusalem - March 20, 2017 in Tel Aviv) was an Israeli theater director and actor. Biography Lewensohn was a graduate of the Israeli Music Conservatory in Tel Aviv. During his a ...

. The work of the foundation focuses on two main areas. The first, "Developing and advancing the artist’s knowledge and skills", involves building a personal advancement program suited to the artist and their needs. The programs may include taking advanced courses in a foreign country, or learning a relevant professional software program. The second area, "Developing and advancing the artist’s professional career, involves encouraging artists to assume a proactive approach to advancing their careers, based on the understanding that great artistic talent is a prerequisite but in itself does not suffice for developing a prominent local and/or international career. Seminars and annual meetings deal with “career skills”, exposing the artists to subjects such as strategic and business counseling, self-presentation, marketing, branding, and networking. Business coaching is also offered.

IcExcellence Chosen Artists, 2002-08

Israeli Music

Din Din Aviv Din Din Aviv ( he, דין דין אביב, born 9 October 1974 as Dina Aviv) is an Israeli pop and folk singer. After performing with Gaya and with the Idan Raichel Project, she released her debut album, ''Sodotay (My Secrets)'' in 2006. Biogra ...

David D'Or David D'Or ( he, דוד ד'אור; born David Nehaisi on October 2, 1965) is an Israeli singer, composer, and songwriter. A countertenor with a vocal range of more than four octaves, he is a three-time winner of the Israeli "Singer of the Year" a ...

, Lior Elmalich,

Victoria Hanna Victoria Hanna (Hebrew: ויקטוריה חנה; a stage name consisting of her first and middle names) is a multi-disciplinary artist, voice and language explorer, composer and creator active in both the Israeli and international spheres..

Rona Kenan Rona (Aharona) Rachel Kenan ( he, רונה קינן, born 26 July 1979) is an Israeli singer-songwriter. Biography Kenan was born on 26 July 1979. Her father is the late Amos Kenan and her mother is the scholar Nurith Gertz. She was attracted to ...

, Ron Shem Tov ( Izabo), Shlomi Shaban

Classical music

Conductors

Gil Shohat Gil Shohat ( he, גיל שוחט, born 7 September 1973) is an Israeli classical music composer, Conducting, conductor, pianist and lecturer. Biography Gil Shohat was born in Tel Aviv. His mother is ''Ha'aretz'' theatre critic Tzipora (Tzipi) Shoh ...

Dan Ettinger Dan Ettinger ( he, דן אטינגר; born 1971) is an Israeli conductor, opera singer and pianist. Biography Ettinger is descended from Romanian immigrants to Israel, as his father and grandmother are Holocaust survivors. He grew up in the Tel ...

, and Yaron Gottfried, Opera Singer Chen Reiss, Composer

Avner Dorman Avner Dorman (Hebrew: אבנר דורמן; born April 14, 1975 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli-born composer, educator and conductor. Education Dorman holds a doctorate in music composition from the Juilliard School, where he studied as a C ...

Keren Hadar Keren Hadar ( he, קרן הדר; born 1975) is a crossover soprano singer from Israel. She was born in Neve Ne'eman in the Hod HaSharon municipality. She is the third of four siblings. Keren's father, a businessman, was born in Israel and her mothe ...

Jazz

Avishai Cohen,

Eli Degibri Eli Degibri (Hebrew: אלי דג'יברי) (born May 3, 1978, in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli jazz saxophonist, composer, and arranger. Early life Degibri first began playing the mandolin at age 7 in an after school music program at ...

Theater

Actor

Itay Tiran Itay Tiran ( he, איתי טיראן; born March 23, 1980) is an Israeli stage and screen actor, director, and a well-known pro-Palestinian advocate in Israel. As an actor, he is known for his roles in ''Forgiveness'' (2006), ''Beaufort'' (2007) ...

, Set & Lighting Designer Bambi Friedman,

Mira Awad Mīrā Anwar ‘Awaḍ ( ar, ميرا عوض, he, מירה עווד; born June 11, 1975) is an Arab-Israeli singer-songwriter, actress, television host, and political activist of Palestinian Arab and Bulgarian descent. In 2009, she represented ...

, Keren Zur

Writing

Author

Etgar Keret Etgar Keret ( he, אתגר קרת, born August 20, 1967) is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television. Personal life Keret was born in Ramat Gan, Israel in 1967. He is a third child ...

Eshkol Nevo Eshkol Nevo ( he, אשכול נבו, born 28 February 1971) is an Israeli writer who has published a collection of short stories, five novels and a work of non-fiction. One of his novels, ''Homesick'', was awarded the Book Publishers Associatio ...

Film and television

Directors Nir Bergman,

Tomer Heymann Tomer Heymann (born October 12, 1970 in Kfar Yedidia, Israel) is an Israeli filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the documentary films ''Paper Dolls'', ''Mr.Gaga'' and '' Who's Gonna Love Me Now?''. Career Heymann has directed many doc ...

, David Ofek

Visual Art

Yael Bartana Yael Bartana ( he, יעל ברתנא; born 1970) is an Israeli artist, filmmaker and photographer, whose past works have encompassed multiple mediums, including photography, film, video, sound, and installation. Many of her pieces feature polit ...

Zoya Cherkassky Zoya (russian: Зоя, links=no) is a feminine Russian and Ukrainian first name, a variant of Zoe (name), Zoe, meaning "life", from Greek ζωή (zoē), "life".