The Old City of Jerusalem. Behind these ancient walls, something new is happening, the 2009 Lights Festival.

At  Jaffa Gate, the main entrance to the city, these giant illuminated cubes, look like they had fallen from outer space.

[Gil Teichman, Light Artist]:
“This presentation depicts a giant playground of cubes that change color and atmosphere and serve as a welcome and entrance into the festival.”

And deeper inside the city, in a 19th century neighborhood, searching for the meaning of light, Multimedia artist Ronen Aricha projects his is work on the front of a monumental building.

[Ronen Aricha, Multimedia Artist]:
“It’s about light – you see the little kid, he is exploring the world, he is finding lighting phenomenon in the world around him, in his back yard, at home, he meets his father, he discovers the sun, and fire, and it’s all about lights. “

24 creations light up almost every corner of the city, giving the tourists an experience they will not easily forget.

[Reuven Pinski, The Jerusalem Development Authority]:
“In general, the tourism that comes from all around the world, especially to Jerusalem, that’s the reason why they come to Jerusalem, and they come specifically to the Old City of Jerusalem.  Most of the tourists come at daytime, and we are trying to open the gates of the old city at night time, to show the beauty of the old city at night.”

The combination of historical archeological ruins with 21st century digital effects is mesmerizing. Museum designer Aliav Nahlieli’s creation tells the story of a family of Jewish priests in the Herodian Era (1st century BC).

[Aliav Nahlieli, Museum Designer]:
“The show that you just saw was trying to tell the whole story through music and dance of beams of light. We tried to create the same emotions that probably Professor Avigad, the archeologist, had when he started digging in the site. “

On the hillside, outside the city’s walls, a magical  scene - “The Garden of the Night”, a creation by architects Merav Eitan and Gaston Tsahar.

[Gaston Tsahar, Architect]:
“The idea is to make a garden, a garden which works only at night. Usually a garden is important for all cultures, for all times, histories and so on. And we wanted to create a garden which is different from all the others and which enables people to use nature, so called “nature,” also at night. ”

And some artists, perhaps a little more mischievous, preferred wearing their lights on their heads.

Rani Shoket, NTD, The Old City of Jerusalem.

Reporter: Rani Shoket    Photographer: Anat Markram