New York, March 31, 2011—Headlines reporting recent violence contrasted starkly with OneVoice Israel’s (OVI) Imagine 2018 exhibit, entitled “Creating Tomorrow, Today,” at Sapir College on March 24.
During the day long exhibit in the southern town of Sderot, OVI activists confronted the palpably tense mood colored by the morning's headlines, which reported rockets launched from the Gaza Strip striking the southern Israeli city of Beersheba and a bombing in Jerusalem. The headlines in the “Creating Tomorrow, Today” exhibit featured the 10 best submissions from a competition run in December 2010 that challenged Israelis to envision the headlines of a mock newspaper from 2018.
“It was very moving to be there today, amidst such sadness and frustration,” said Tal Harris, executive director of OVI. “Being in Sderot, less than 3 kilometers (1.6 miles) from Gaza, and asking people about what type of tomorrow they would like to see and their role in creating it was inspiring to say the least.”
The “Creating Tomorrow, Today” exhibit was mentioned on the Israeli newspaper Maariv’s Web site and twice on Israeli radio. It was previously displayed in the Israeli Knesset during the launch of the Two-State Solution Caucus and on bus shelter billboards. The exhibit gives people an opportunity to reflect on what they’d like to read in the media on Israel’s 70th birthday. As the third public showing, the exhibit challenged Sderot residents to take personal responsibility in defining their own future.
Throughout the course of the day, OVI activists spoke to hundreds of people, signing people up to the movement and inviting all to a town hall meeting with Im Tirzu, scheduled to take place in early April.
“Though many who saw the exhibit said we’re being naive, others said it was funny and encouraging,” said Harris. “However, the intelligent, witty, and inspiring headlines allowed us to engage people on the tougher issues, making them think about their role in promoting the good news they'd like to read themselves.”
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