Zoooo - an ongoing event until 20:30

In the center of Jerusalem, hidden in the green grass of Liberty Bell Park, a new animal exhibit for children and adults is about to open – ZOOOO!

ZOOOO! is a multi-disciplinary art project where artists of all types and species create sculpted, animated, illustrated, dancing, and even musical instrument-playing animals…
Hadas Ophrat, Israel Prize laureate for the Performing Arts and Theater for 2016, and Shahar Marom, Artistic Manager for the Puppet Festival, invite you to wander along the paths of the park and discover animals you won’t see anywhere else:

At the entrance to the park stands a huge, two-headed animal sculpture, while monkey lovers can visit the large cage in the middle of the park where baboons live thoroughly modern lives, watching TV and eating bananas. Nearby, a band of small monkeys swing on the bushes in the wind.

In one corner of the park, an actress in spider costume knits a huge web to trap a dancer dressed as a butterfly!

In the sandbox, you can construct a sand cat skeleton or design imaginary animals from sculpted bones, while nearby an elephant with curves inspired by Indian mythology offers giant hugs to passersby, and a winged Sumerian lion rides his bicycle up, up and away...

Children can enjoy the special petting zoo where they can pet shy imaginary animals hidden inside boxes ─ but no peeking please!

At the animal nursery, you can learn how to take care of special live puppet animals and even babysit them!

Music lovers are invited to listen to an animal that is itself a musical instrument and adventure-seekers can join a guided safari tour where an actress will lead you to find the miniature animals scattered around the ZOOOO! You will also be able to see a flock of sheep enjoying a picnic on the lawn, and the brave among you are invited to see the comeback performance of Shlomzion, the Judean desert leopardess.

Tired and worn out? Come and relax at the “take me under your wing” corner where you can relax on soft, dove wing-shaped cushions and watch the swans on the lake. But watch out for the crocodile lurking about!

If the sun is making you boil, find some shade under the animals’ laundry where animal-print clothes are hung out to dry on wash lines, or take a dip in the aquarium and swim with the fish projected on the sides.

Close to the park’s exit are booths set up by the Society for Animal Rights, as well as an exhibition along the northern fence of Liberty Bell Park by the Czech artist, Michal Cihlář, who designed posters for the Prague Zoo. 

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Monday-Thursday, 15-18 August 2016, 17:00-20:30

(Entrance permitted until 20:00)

On Monday, 15 August, ZOOOO! is open by invitation only

Entrance fee: 15 shekels

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Animal and human participants:

Crocodile: Florian Feisel (Germany)| Baboon: Renana Aldor & Dan Hochberg |Monkey troupe: Tamar Hochstadter | Lion with Wings: Elhanan Twito | Spider: Noa Becker | Butterfly: Stav Bar Nahum Frank| Flock of Sheep: Shachar Pollak & Yaron Kerbel | Aquarium: Nili Dvir | Lady Elephant: Nohav Keren | Musical Animal: Yaniv Shentser & Mia Jankovich | Petting Zoo: Natalia Rosenthal | Sand Cat: Rinat Goldberger | Two-Headed Animal: Shay Id Alony | Shlomzion the Leopardess: Michal Svironi | Safari Tour: Rotem Volk | Puppy Garden: Galia levy-Grad ( words by Shmil Maayan) | Poster Exhibition : Michal Cihlář 

Zookeepers: Hadas Ophrat & Shahar Marom

Zoo Maintenance and Operation: Daniella Shenhav

Design and illustrations for the ZOOOO! map: Tamar Hochstadter  

ZOOOO! team coordinator: Tammy Izhaki