Seeds of Creation

In addition to the individual art tutoring in the framework of the "Creation Projects", and sometimes as a direct outgrowth of them, the Raz-Ram Foundation operates a second kind of project, called "Seeds of Creation".

In the "Seeds of Creation" projects, the Foundation assembles creative groups throughout the country to carry out community art projects. These groups work on yearlong projects in different areas of art. Through this creative work, the Foundation tries to create for orphaned children and youth an experience that will enrich, inspire and deepen the cultural and artistic life of the participants and their community.

Those "Seeds of Creation" projects which grew out of "Creation Projects" focus on the same themes of culture, memory and commemoration, in the communities, and wherever the projects take place. In fact, through a creative process that channels the processes of memory and grieving, children and youth are able to penetrate the most difficult barriers to their internal worlds and initiate a dialogue, at those moments when words are inaccessible. Through this creative dialogue, an opportunity is opened for true communication with the "other" - youth who are different, foreign, perceived as threatening - to foster tolerance and appreciation of the intricate social fabric of Israeli life.

Thus, the "Seeds of Creation" projects involve encounters between different population groups that are in some kind of conflict - in the Jewish community, between secular and religious communities, new immigrants and longtime residents, and in minority and other marginal communities including Beduins, Druse and Arab. Through the "Seeds of Creation" process, an attempt is made to transform grief - at the level of the individual child and his or her family, and the community - out of the belief that grief corrodes the community and the nation, and distorts and obscures emotions on a national level. Yet it is the Foundation's belief that the energy of grief can and should be transformed into something constructive and peace-building, with the power to build stronger, more sensitive communities. Thus, while each "Seeds of Creation" project starts out by working with orphaned children and youth, it eventually expands out into the community to include different "other" social groups in artistic and creative projects that contribute and strengthen all involved.

Seeds of Creation Projects are taking place in:
Golan Heights, Ramah, Maghar, Hurfeish,
Kfar Hassidim, Haifa, Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, Rehovoth,
Nes-Tziona, Jerusalem, Kiryat-Gat, Eshel Hanass,
Rahat and Beer Sheva