Xenophobia

Visual Response

 

Mirta Kupferminc

CLAMOR IN THE DESERT

JEWISH HISTORY MUSEUM AND HOLOCAUST CENTER in TUCSON (fall 2020)

LABA

As the artist for this piece, Mirta Kupferminc, writes, the movement of people around the world does not stop stirring. Whether emigrants, exiles, expatriates, immigrants, or refugees – all are displaced from their homes and are referenced in this sukkah. The sukkah is an unstable and temporary construction, representing the fragility of human life and at the same time a shelter for anyone who feels forlorn.

Kol Kore Bamidbar, are the Hebrew words to say, “That voice that cries out for protection.” The work transforms fence materials into a shelter that welcomes everyone. The same material that is used to build limitation and separation are used in this habitable installation to build a celebration, a shelter that receives humanity as a whole. Humanity is represented on the walls of the sukkah, as they are filled with printed images of eyes through participatory collective action. Visitors will be invited to hang prints on the installation. Mirrors hanging from the structure will reflect the eyes of visitors, as witnesses.

In the time of our current plague, although our mouths are covered with protective masks; our voices in our eyes continue to claim justice together.

CLAMOR EN EL DESIERTO/Kol Kore Bamidbar

La suka es una construccion inestable y provisoria, que representa la fragilidad de la vida humana. Pero es tambien el refugio para todo aquel que se siente desprotegido. Kol Kore Bamidbar, son las palabras hebreas para decir “esa voz que pide proteccion.”

Toda suka tiene sus paredes abiertas invitando a todo individuo que desee entrar, y ese es el motivo para celebrar. Es por eso, que en la tradicion judia es obligacion dejar afuera de la suka toda afliccion.

Los colores utilizados en esta obra representan los coleres de los atributos de sukkot, sumado el color del desierto de Arizona. El mismo material que sirve para construir cercos que limitan y separan, fueron utilizados en esta obra para construir un refugio de celebracion que albergue a la humanidad.

En epocas de Covid19, y aunque nuestras bocas esten cubiertas con las mascaras protectoras; nuestras voces en nuestras miradas siguen clamando por justicia para la humanidad toda.

Mirta Kupferminc

Mirta Kupferminc is a multidisciplinary Argentine artist, curator, lecturer, mentor, and teacher of other artists who lives and works in Buenos Aires.

Exhibiting since 1977, she has had more than 100 solo and group shows in Argentina, Cuba, Brazil, Uruguay, China Switzerland, Spain, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong , Germany, Israel, Poland, France, Hungary, England, United States. Her works can be found in international collections and museums. She has received local and international printmaking awards, including: Great Honor Prize (2012) in Argentina, First Prize Sivori Museum, Argentina (2018), Silver Medal Taiwan Biennale (2006), Honor Mention Taipei Biennale (1999), Third Prize at 7th Koichi Biennale (2008). She was curator of the Argentinean presentation at the Contemporary Jewish Art Jerusalem Biennale 2019.

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Written Response

 

Ayelet Gundar-Goshen (translated by Sondra Silverston

 

Please find the written response “A Writer’s Report on the Beersheba Bus Station Shooting” here.

 

Ayelet Gundar-Goshen is the author of Waking Lions, winner of the 2017 JQ-Wingate Prize, and a New York Times notable book of 2018. Her debut novel, One Night, Markovitch, received Israel’s prestigious Sapir Prize, and was awarded the Wizo prize in both Italy and France. Her latest novel, The Liar, was a Wingate prize finalist, a People editor’s pick, and one of Elle Magazine’s best books of 2019. Ayelet works as a clinical psychologist at Geha mental health hospital, Israel.