The Desert and the Cities Sing: Discovering Today’s Israel is a beautiful multisensory boxed set that celebrates today’s Israel.

From world-renowned artists and performers to brilliant educators who are making radical changes to the country’s school system to new movements in cuisine, and the recent wave of Israeli hip hop bands making an impact on the globe and from the latest fashion trends to vital breakthroughs in nanotechnology, industry, and medicine, this project encourages a fuller understanding of Israel by focusing on the best of the best in a range of fields. It also explores other countries that benefit from Israel’s innovations along with the many pockets of peaceful collaboration, where people of all religions and ethnicities work or study side by side productively and harmoniously.

The Desert and Cities Sing includes four full-color designed books featuring the arts, agriculture, food, entertainment, education, technology, and enterprise; a portfolio of 25 framable photographs capturing Israel’s landscapes; four documentary films on DVD, including the Academy Award–winning Strangers No More; a flash drive filled with animations about Israel’s innovations; a limited edition scarf by fashion designer Frau Blau; and a map of Israel.

The Desert and the Cities Sing was conceived by Lin Arison and Diana C. Stoll, veteran travelers and authors, and in collaboration with photographer Neil Folberg and art director Michelle Dunn Marsh.

Lin is the author of Feast for the Senses: A Musical Odyssey in Umbria, which was selected for the J.P. Morgan Summer Reading List in 2010. Her previous publications include A Love Story in Mediterranean Israel and Travels with Van Gogh and the Impressionists. In 1981 she cofounded the National Young Arts Foundation with her late husband, Ted Arison, and in 1987 she cofounded the New World Symphony Orchestra with artistic director Michael Tilson Thomas. She divides her time between Miami and Israel.

Diana is a writer and editor who has guided and shaped dozens of publications for art publishers, major museums, and other cultural institutions. She is the coauthor of Feast for the Senses: A Musical Odyssey in Umbria.

Neil’s photographic monographs include And I Shall Dwell Among Them. He has collaborated with Lin Arison on three previous publications.

For more information, be sure to check out Lin and Diana’s website, The Desert and the Cities Sing.