Vancouver Art Gallery

Beacon of light in heart of city

The lighting of the Silber Family Agam Menorah in the Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza is an annual tradition. This year, the first candle will be lit on Dec. 14. (photo from Lubavitch BC)

The lighting of the Silber Family Agam Menorah in the Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza is an annual tradition. This year, the first candle will be lit on Dec. 14.

As the first night of Hanukkah approaches, the Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza will once again welcome the annual lighting of the Silber Family Agam Menorah. Rising at the corner of Georgia and Hornby streets, this work of public art has become an enduring symbol of Jewish pride, resilience and unity for more than three decades.

photo - Silber Family Agam Menorah — (photo from Lubavitch BC)

Designed and built in 1991 by internationally renowned Israeli artist and sculptor Yaacov Agam, the menorah was commissioned by Fred Silber and the Silber family for Chabad Lubavitch of British Columbia. More than a sculpture, it was envisioned as a joyful and unapologetic statement of Jewish presence in the centre of downtown Vancouver. Since its debut, the menorah has returned each year with ceremony and celebration, illuminating the city skyline with its vibrancy and timeless message: that even in the darkest seasons, the light of Jewish identity continues to shine.

What began as a family’s dedication has grown into one of the largest annual Jewish gatherings in the province. Each year, hundreds of community members, friends, supporters and neighbours bundle up and fill the plaza for the first lighting of Hanukkah. Children clutch chocolate gelt and jelly donuts, elders share stories of holidays past, and young families, students and professionals gather to feel connected and uplifted.

Distinguished guests from across the civic and political landscape will join the festivities Dec. 14, reflecting the wide recognition the Agam Menorah lighting has earned as a Vancouver tradition. Member of Parliament Wade Grant will attend on behalf of the Canadian government and MP Melissa Lantsman will represent the official opposition. Their presence underscores not only the event’s Jewish significance, but also its role as a valued civic moment celebrating inclusiveness and the strength of community bonds.

“Each candle we kindle is more than a flame – it’s a statement of Jewish pride and a reminder that light, unity and hope will always overcome darkness,” said Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld, director of Chabad Lubavitch BC. “This menorah has become part of Vancouver’s identity, and this celebration brings our entire community together in a beautiful and powerful way.”

The evening will feature traditions that light up the plaza each year: chocolate gelt, donuts, music, dancing, and greetings exchanged among old friends and new faces.

The message of the Silber Family Agam Menorah is as relevant today as it was 30 years ago. In a world often challenged by uncertainty, its light stands as a reminder of the enduring spirit of the Jewish people and the importance of gathering publicly, proudly and joyfully.

As the candles are kindled once more, the entire community is invited to join in this Vancouver tradition. The gathering on Dec. 14 starts at 3:30 p.m. For more about Chabad Lubavitch of British Columbia’s holiday events, lightings and activities, go to lubavitchbc.com.

– Courtesy Lubavitch BC

Measure of a community

Several hundred people came to the Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza to participate in the annual lighting of the Silber Family Agam Menorah. (photo by Lior Noyman Productions)

In some places in the world, the sun shines on Hanukkah. It’s warm and inviting, and people gather at the lighting of a public menorah. But the real measure of a community is when hundreds turn out despite the cold and snow, to celebrate Hanukkah in a spirit of camaraderie and festivity. Such was on the first night of Hanukkah in Vancouver, when several hundred people came to the Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza to participate in the annual lighting of the Silber Family Agam Menorah.

photo - Left to right: Ezra Shanken, Arnold Silber and Rabbi Yitzchak Wineberg try to keep warm at the lighting of the Silber Family Agam Menorah Dec. 18 — Left to right: Ezra Shanken, Arnold Silber and Rabbi Yitzchak Wineberg try to keep warm at the lighting of the Silber Family Agam Menorah Dec. 18. (photo by Lior Noyman Productions)

Members of Parliament, of the legislature and of city council brought greetings from their respective governments. The current patriarch of the Silber family, Arnold Silber, delayed his vacation to warmer climes in order to be at the ceremony. His son, Steven Silber, spoke on behalf of the family, and noted that this year marked exactly 95 years since the family’s former patriarch, the late Fred Silber, landed in Canada from his native Poland, with almost nothing to his name. He built a beautiful family and a legacy to the Jewish and wider community.

photo - Lighting of the Silber Family Agam Menorah Dec. 18 — Lighting of the Silber Family Agam Menorah Dec. 18. (photo by Lior Noyman Productions)

Rabbi Yitzchak Wineberg, executive director of Chabad Lubavitch of British Columbia, noted in his short address that the lesson of Hanukkah did not lose its impact on Fred Silber. The Maccabees were very small in number, against a mighty army of the Assyrian Greeks, who were well versed in the art of war. Hanukkah teaches us never to be deterred by challenges. Fred Silber may have arrived here with little but he left this world having left much for future generations.

Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld read a letter from the Lubavitch Rebbe (Menachem Mendel Schneerson) z”l that explains the importance and value of public menorah displays, and the attendees enjoyed a choir performed by students of the B.C. Regional Hebrew Schools, of which Rosenfeld is a co-director with his wife, Chaya Rosenfeld.

Chabad Lubavitch BC gratefully acknowledged the support of Arnold Silber in making this event possible.

– Courtesy Lubavitch BC

Reva Stone at ISEA2015

Winnipeg artist Reva Stone is interested in “examining ideas about the mediation between our bodies and the technologies that are altering how we interact with the world.” (photo by Harold Stone)

The International Symposium on Electronic Art comes to Vancouver Aug. 14-19. One of the artists featured in this “showcase of creative productions applying new technologies in art, interactivity, electronic and digital media” is Reva Stone.

It should come as no surprise, with Stone’s artwork comprising computer-assisted installations since 1992, that she has been invited to participate in ISEA once again. The first time Canada played host to the international symposium was in Montreal in 1995 and the Vancouver event marks only the second time that it has come to our country. In the last four years, it has been hosted in Istanbul, Albuquerque, Sydney and Dubai.

Stone, 70, was born to Sarah and Don Atnikov in Winnipeg and raised in Regina before returning to Winnipeg for university, earning a bachelor’s in sociology and psychology in 1966 and a bachelor of fine arts in 1985. She has been a professional electronic and digital media artist for more than 25 years.

“As far back as I can remember, I was always interested in making art, but it wasn’t seen as a practical decision when I was in university in the early 1960s,” said Stone. “By my early 30s, I was married [to Harold Stone] and a stay-at-home mom with two children. I was taking local art classes, but not finding them satisfying. I needed to learn more, experience more and experiment more.”

Stone returned to school to take fine arts. “I thought I was going to become a painter, but that didn’t last long,” she recalled. “I learned quickly that I love to take chances and am really comfortable trying things I have never done before.”

She graduated when she was in her 40s and was told that a woman her age could not have an art career. So, she said, “I did it anyways. Since that time, I have been creating computer-assisted installations that explore the mutable space between human and machine.”

Stone always begins new work with a concept that she has read about or an occurrence that she has observed, developing her ideas through research and experimentation. Each work comes to fruition, sometimes in collaboration with other artists and scientists, and other times with hired computer programmers. Stone has shown her work across Canada, the United States and Europe.

In addition to ISEA2015, Stone’s work is featured in the 2015 Governor General’s Awards Exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, which runs to Aug. 30, and will be at Gurevich Fine Art in Winnipeg in September, as part of the exhibit A Celebration of Women’s Art.

The Winnipeg show includes the work of her studio partners, Aganetha Dyck and Diana Thorneycroft. “We have shared space for over 20 years and this is the first time we are showing together,” said Stone.

“My interest is in researching and examining ideas about the mediation between our bodies and the technologies that are altering how we interact with the world,” explained Stone. “I then use various forms of digital media to make artwork that comments on this changing nature of what it means to be human.”

Stone’s art has encompassed works such as “Imaginal Expression” (an endlessly mutating, responsive, 3-D environment), “Carnevale 3.0” (an autonomous robot that reflects on the nature of human consciousness) and “Portal” (which combines custom software, media, robotics and mobile phone technology to create a work that appears to be sentient).

“Recently, I began altering and repurposing obsolete devices that refer to the history of communication and technology,” said Stone. “I am altering them by adding small, embedded computer boards, video screens, lights, sensors, custom software, robotics and found video.

“I am choosing objects that possess an historical richness that merges with the alterations I am making to create a rich layering of ideas. As I continue to explore this series of work, I am finding that humor and a sense of play have become an increasingly important element.”

Over the years, Stone has received numerous research and production awards, including from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Major Arts Award from the Manitoba Arts Council and, of course, the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts this year.

She has also been internationally recognized. In 2002, for example, “Carnevale 3.0” received an honorable mention in Fundación Telefónica’s Vida 5.0 Art and Artificial Life International Competition. In 2009, Stone presented at Super Human – Revolution of the Species Symposium, organized by the Australian Network for Art and Technology in Melbourne. The proceedings were published in Second Nature: The International Journal of Creative Media.

The theme for ISEA2015 is “Disruption,” inviting “a conversation about the esthetics of change, renewal, efficiencies and game-changing paradigms.” Conference events will be held at the Woodward’s campus of Simon Fraser University, with exhibitions and events taking place at Emily Carr University of Art + Design and other venues throughout the city.

Vancouver Art Gallery’s Fuse event will be held in partnership with ISEA2015 on Aug. 15. In addition to music and live performance, the works of some 50 artists will be on display, including that of Stone. The event is open to the public starting at 8 p.m. (tickets are $20 plus tax). For more information, visit isea2015.org/schedule.

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.