Why an Ant?

See that little ant🐜 in our logo?

That's us.

That's also you.

That's all of us, really.

Everyone knows the beginning of the biblical proverb about the ant – "Go to the ant, you sluggard" – usually interpreted as a call to work harder. But most are too lazy to read the rest: "which has no commander, no overseer or ruler." The ant doesn't need a boss telling it what to do. It works collectively, organically, for the benefit of the whole colony.

Also, ants have been around for over 100 million years, making them the most sustainable creatures on the planet. They work together underground and above ground. Once you see one ant, you keep seeing them everywhere.​

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And that's exactly what we're building – a colony of artists, creators, and cultural makers who support each other without hierarchy, who keep culture sustainable, and who are impossible to ignore once you notice them.

What We Do (Without All the Bureaucratic Jargon)

Bar-Kayma provides infrastructure, administrative support, and a shared home for dozens of independent cultural projects in Jerusalem. Think of us as a collective of collectives - a mini-ecosystem where:

• Artists can focus on art instead of drowning in Excel spreadsheets and tax forms
• Creative projects get professional support without losing their independence or soul
• Communities form organically through collaboration, mutual aid and shared resources and destiny
• Culture stays sustainable with a smart, open and collaborative organization, not according to corporate logic

We believe art and culture should run in a different manner than businesses,as it is based on shared values, passion, creativity, and community.

That's why we're a nonprofit – not because we don't deal with money (we do, plenty of it), but because money isn't our goal. We value contemporary, original and independent Jerusalemite culture.

Our Colony: The Projects & People

Over sixty cultural initiatives operate as part of Bar-Kayma for Culture, as a thriving ecosystem that operates cultural venues and galleries, collectives, unions, orchestras, choirs, labels, podcasts, magazines and journals, and many more creative initiatives, active throughout the year.

The director of every initiative is a registered member of the association, and each of us run independent initiatives that align with the association's goals and operate in or from Jerusalem. All together, we produce over 600 events per year. Not bad for a bunch of ants.

The Exit Strategy (Yes, Really)

Here's something unusual: we want projects to leave us.

Our goal is to help initiatives stand on their own feet, build sustainable models, and fly free. It would be absurd and unsustainable keeping everyone dependent on Bar-Kayma forever. When a project grows strong enough to become independent – like Poetry Slam Israel, which moved to the Incubator Theater, or Dunya Music School, which became a department at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, or the Miffal which operates today as an independent non-profit – When they leave us we celebrate. That's success.

Also within Bar-Kayma, each project operates as an independent unit – like mini-nonprofits with their own budgets, insurance policies, and autonomy. This maintains independence and freedom of action. We help with bureaucracy and management, and ensure that they can focus on creativity and imagination.

We're not building an empire. We're building a launchpad.

Why Jerusalem? 

Jerusalem is complex and complicated. It's three cities in one (at least), multiple languages, endless tensions, and historically speaking, a bit of a hot mess. But it's also precisely this complexity that demands creative solutions. The same city that creates impossible obstacles also creates the most ingenious workarounds.
Art unites where politics divides, and there is a lot of art in Jerusalem. Beyond that - in such a complex reality, culture becomes essential, not as decoration but as a tool for survival, for relieving tensions, for a fun and open encounter, a respectful discourse that encourages shared thought and imagination, and meaningful art that touches the bare nerves and capillaries of the soul of people and societies. ​

Fighting for Freedom of Expression

Unfortunately, we find ourselves repeatedly at the forefront of the struggle for freedom of expression in Jerusalem and in Israel, whether in the public and legal battle for Barbur Gallery (2017-2020), fighting the court appeal to prevent a Pride party at the Tower of David (2024), budget delays for the Jerusalem Street Orchestra (2025) and other harassment by political elements in an attempt to garner press coverage by attacking the arts and culture.

But we keep showing up anyway. Because that's what ants do.

The Boring (But Important) Part

Legally speaking, Bar-Kayma is a registered nonprofit association (ע"ר) officially founded in 2006, activated in 2012. We have all the required permits for receiving public funds or donations under section 46a from Israel and abroad. Every initiative supports the organizational infrastructure with a modest 7% overhead fee (compared to the 15-20% standard in the sector) to keep operations running. We don't receive regular government funding. We're sustained by the projects we support, mutual aid through, with your donations, and because of sheer perseverance and stubbornness.

Our Origin Story: Born from a bar during an Intifada

Bar-Kayma's story begins with Diwan, a pub that became a cultural lifeline during the Second Intifada (2000-2005). When the streets were empty and fear hung over the city, Diwan was one of the few places still operating – not just as a bar, but as a cultural institution. Musicians performed, DJs spun vinyl (one of only two turntable setups in the city), artists gathered, and people from all backgrounds came together. The rules were simple: no weapons inside (lock them outside if you must), no smoking drugs indoors, no fights inside (take it outside if necessary). And it worked – Jews, Arabs, Russians, students, artists, everyone shared the space peacefully in the middle of chaos.

In those days, the community of artists and entertainers was small and intimate, and there was a feeling of musical chairs as the artists and the audience took turns and worked together to create a vibrant, relevant and meaningful cultural lifeline. The cultural community began to take over the abandoned public spaces, and hold parties and events outdoors or in parking lots and abandoned buildings. But if you went out to the Diwan in the evening and it was empty – you couldn’t tell if it was because of the intifada or because there was a great party and no one told you. To answer this question, a weekly fanzine called “MessyBoat BitchOnYacht” (“Security Parties/Reasons” in Hebrew) was published on a double-sided A4 sheet, collecting and distributing the cultural events taking place that week. Between 2002-2006, the fanzine was published weekly, and when the intifada ended and the events began to multiply, a website of that name was established and operated collaboratively for several years.

When Diwan closed in 2005, the vision didn't die. The organization was officially founded in 2006, though it remained mostly dormant until 2011. After the social protest movement of 2011, the founders decided to reactivate Bar-Kayma as a home for interdisciplinary creative groups. The mission was clear: minimize bureaucratic damage to artists, create sustainable models for organization and expression, and build community through shared resources and support.

That spirit – of showing up, of creating against all odds, of building community when everything feels broken – still drives us today.

Our Philosophy in Three Words

No commander. No overseer. No ruler.

Just a colony of creative ants, working together, building something bigger than any individual, and proving that culture can sustain itself when organized with wisdom, humor, and a little help from your friends.

We continue to develop independent and innovative initiatives. By connecting artists, cultural institutions, communities and audiences, we create a diverse cultural playground while providing a free and independent framework for each project. This allows projects operating in Bar-Kayma to focus on creating art and experiences that reflect and shape contemporary culture in Jerusalem.

Want to join the colony?

Whether you're an artist with a project idea, a cultural enthusiast who wants to support independent creativity, or just someone who believes Jerusalem deserves a thriving, autonomous cultural scene – we'd love to hear from you.

Because the best way to predict the future is to build it together. One ant at a time.

Bar-Kayma for Culture, Art, Music and Peace, Sustaining sustainable sustainability since 2012