Meet Liat Livni, a 31-year-old Israeli  artist extraordinaire. Livni’s studio is located on Hanegev Street in Tel Aviv, near the Old Central Bus Station. There, she transforms simple objects like paper plates into “more aesthetic…objects of desire,” as Livni puts it. What you would throw away, she picks up and reuses in her art.

A new wave of artists and activists are  working to revitalize Jerusalem: the city that evokes majestic images of sun setting on white stones, ignites passion among people of various faiths, and has been a source of prolific creativity for writers, poets, and artists for generations worldwide. This fabled city has fallen on hard times due in part to the rapidly-growing number and influence of ultra-Orthodox Jews, a dwindling economy, and a perception among Israeli youth that the city lacks social and cultural opportunities for them. Jerusalem has therefore been facing a “negative immigration” of young people and businesses for several years.

The city was in ruins, permeated by suffering and death, noxious diesel fumes, guns, and desperate people. The Israeli team brought a ray of hope to a place in terrible pain.