{"id":18496,"date":"2016-04-22T00:17:33","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T07:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=18496"},"modified":"2016-04-20T18:28:05","modified_gmt":"2016-04-21T01:28:05","slug":"artistic-pesach-midrashim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2016\/04\/22\/artistic-pesach-midrashim\/","title":{"rendered":"Artistic Pesach midrashim"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cQuestion Mark\u201d by Sydney Freedman and Rachel Pekeles \u00a0is among the works created by King David High School Grade 12 students. (photo by Nancy Current)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In conjunction with their current show at Zack Gallery, Visual Midrash, artists Robin Atlas and Nancy Current conducted a two-day workshop with the Grade 12 students of King David High School. Rabbi Stephen Berger, head of the school\u2019s Judaic studies, and some of his more outgoing students talked to the Independent <\/em>about the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year, we do a project for Passover with our Grade 12 students,\u201d said Berger. \u201cThe Haggadah is one of those Jewish texts that\u2019s had the most number of interpretations throughout our history, as every generation and every family bring their own understanding. So, I ask the students every year to write their own versions, a short essay on one of the aspects of the Haggadah. This year, we decided to combine the writing with the visual component. The students pitched their ideas, which topic they wanted to explore. I tried to limit the same topics but I didn\u2019t force anyone. They were free to choose. Now, after all the art is done, we\u2019ll put the project online. We\u2019re also going to publish a hardcopy as a pamphlet. One of our former students, Daniel Wiseman, is helping me with the particulars. We will distribute the copies at the JCC, at the synagogues and Jewish delis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rabbi joined his students in creating his own interpretation of the Haggadah, using a sheet of matzah as the base for his artistic journey. \u201cMatzah represents both our slavery and our freedom,\u201d he said. His piece opens the pamphlet.<\/p>\n

Like the rabbi, most of his students hadn\u2019t done much visual art in years and were not going to pursue art as a career, but they enjoyed working on Visual Midrash for this assignment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey put so much thought into their pieces,\u201d said Current. \u201cSome of them first tried to come up with concrete images, but it\u2019s hard without artistic training. Then Robin and I suggested they should think about some abstract interpretations. What ideas come to mind? What concepts are associated with those ideas? The results were amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the students, Izzy Khalifa, chose the most fun-filled tradition of Passover \u2013 the search for bread. \u201cWhen I was a kid, it was a game in our home. I loved it,\u201d she said. \u201cNow that I\u2019m older, I think it\u2019s not simply a search for bread but it has a deeper meaning, like a search for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJudaism grows on you,\u201d the rabbi remarked, and Khalifa agreed. She also liked working with the abstract concept. \u201cPeople can take more from an abstract picture, interpret it in different ways,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"photo
\u201cBlue Heart\u201d by Adi Rosenkrantz and Ashley Morris (photo by Nancy Current)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Classmates Adi Rosenkrantz and Ashley Morris decided on more concrete imagery. Their blue heart on a blood-red background symbolizes the first plague of Egypt \u2013 the plague of blood. \u201cThe blue heart is like the heart of the Nile,\u201d said Rosenkrantz. \u201cThe abrupt color change, from blue to red, from water to blood, disrupted the Egyptian way of life.\u201d Their heart is almost anatomically precise. \u201cI just did a unit on cardiovascular system,\u201d Rosenkrantz explained, \u201cand it was fresh in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ma\u2019ayan Fadida and Shmuel Hart\u2019s illustration was more metaphorical. They selected a controversial theme for their work \u2013 the wicked son. In their artistic interpretation, the wicked son walks a black path, which winds its way across the pink and orange brightness of other family members.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to do one of the sons,\u201d Fadida said. \u201cThis one makes the decision to separate himself from the others; that\u2019s why his path is black. And the abstract allowed us to show how he was thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most powerful pieces is a mixed media collage: a large black question mark with the background of newspaper snippets. Created by Sydney Freedman and Rachel Pekeles, it also touches on the story of the four sons but focuses on the son who doesn\u2019t know how to ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to take a complicated topic and present it as a symbol. The black mark blocks our ability to ask,\u201d explained Freedman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe information is all there. You just have to be willing to look for it,\u201d Pekeles elaborated. \u201cIt is a challenge. Sometimes, we choose not to ask when we should.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olga Livshin<\/strong> is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at\u00a0<\/em>olgagodim@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cQuestion Mark\u201d by Sydney Freedman and Rachel Pekeles \u00a0is among the works created by King David High School Grade 12 students. (photo by Nancy Current) In conjunction with their current show at Zack Gallery, Visual Midrash, artists Robin Atlas and Nancy Current conducted a two-day workshop with the Grade 12 students of King David High […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[5740,5739,1559,1047,5654],"class_list":["post-18496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-atlas","tag-current","tag-kdhs","tag-king-david-high-school","tag-visual-midrash"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}