Government earmarks NIS 160 million to digitize Israeli culture

Some NIS 160 million has been earmarked for the Culture Ministry to digitalize Israel's cultural and spiritual heritage, ministry officials told Haaretz. The ministry intends to set up a virtual archive for the public to access cultural assets of permanent value from the early years of the state. This is part of the national heritage program the government has approved and for which NIS 600 million has been budgeted.

Israel is not the only country that has embarked on a project of this kind. Minister of Culture and Sport Limor Livnat said that during her meeting with her French counterpart, he outlined what his country has done to preserve and document its cultural heritage. "The Ministry of Culture and Sport's contribution is preserving the spiritual culture of the state of Israel," Livnat said on Sunday.

"We are about to embark on a process that has never before been undertaken - the digitalization of our spiritual heritage," she added. "We shall set up a national center for documenting the performing arts that will include a hall of Hebrew songs. All the songs and performances will be translated to digital media so any citizen now or in the future can see [the famous actress] Hannah Rovina performing her role in 'The Dybbuk.' Everyone will be able to hear songs from the early years of the state and to watch films that were shot here in the 1930s and 1940s and [are currently] on film that is gradually disintegrating."

Ministry officials say the Finance Ministry will transfer the funds in the coming months and it will begin working on blueprints with the archives that already exist. The only institution to have begun a process of digitalization is the National Library at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Compared with the heritage of the past, the documentation of cultural events taking place at present will need to be improved. The minister's adviser, Ran Lior, added that the intention is to document 50 to 60 performances a year in the performing arts, such as theater, dance, music and concerts.

However, apparently documenting current cultural events will have to wait in view of the present NIS 160 million budget, to which some NIS 50 million will be added from outside sources. In the best-case scenario, it will be possible to create only the infrastructure for documentation such as acquiring the cameras and issuing tenders for photographers.