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Holocaust

Nov 1, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter November 2020

2020-11-23T23:33:37-05:00November 1st, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter November 2020

Dear Friends, First of all, IF YOU ARE AN US CITIZEN, PLEASE VOTE! John Heartfield, Krieg und Leichen – Die letzte Hoffnung der Reichen, Montagefotografie für die Arbeiter-Illustrierten-Zeitung, 1932, Nr. 18, Silbergelatineabzug, kaschiert Akademie der Künste, Berlin,  Inv.Nr. JH 1955 © The Heartfield Community of Heirs / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2020 This will be an extremely busy month at FAS, starting on November 4, 2020 at 12:00pm ET with Rosa von der Schulenburg’s lecture “About John Heartfield’s Political Engagement and Private Life in London”, which is part of our monthly zoom series “Fight or Flight. stories of artists under repression,” generously funded by Allianz Partners. (SEE EVENT HERE) John [...]

Oct 28, 2020

Legacy And Creativity:
The Filmmaking and Photography of Kitra Cahana
In Conversation with Ori Z Soltes

2020-11-25T16:10:20-05:00October 28th, 2020|, , |Comments Off on Legacy And Creativity:
The Filmmaking and Photography of Kitra Cahana
In Conversation with Ori Z Soltes

WATCH THE RECORDING OF THIS EVENT HERE. Conversation featuring Kitra Cahana, Documentary Photographer, Videographer and Photo/Video Artist and Ori Z Soltes, Teaching Professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC Introduced by Rachel Stern, Executive Director of The Fritz Ascher Society in New York NY Kitra Cahana's award winning work ranges from photographic studies of American Teens for National Geographic Magazine to documentaries on the annual life-saving dance competition in a small town in northern Canada. She is renowned for work that consistently reflects a deep sense of empathy with her subjects. Her grandmother was a teen-aged Holocaust survivor who became an intense and powerful painter. Her father, a rabbi and a poet, was severely disabled by a stroke at the [...]

Oct 27, 2020

Immortality, Memory, Creativity, and Survival:
The Arts of Alice Lok Cahana,
Ronnie Cahana, and Kitra Cahana
Lecture by Ori Z Soltes, Washington DC

2020-11-18T14:34:57-05:00October 27th, 2020|, , |Comments Off on Immortality, Memory, Creativity, and Survival:
The Arts of Alice Lok Cahana,
Ronnie Cahana, and Kitra Cahana
Lecture by Ori Z Soltes, Washington DC

WATCH THE RECORDING OF THIS EVENT HERE. Lecture featuring Ori Z Soltes, Teaching Professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC Moderated by Rachel Stern, Executive Director of the Fritz Ascher Society in New York This lecture explores several interlocking themes. The work of three artists, each in a different medium—Alice was primarily a painter, Ronnie is a poet, and Kitra is a well-recognized photographer and filmmaker—will be presented and explored with regard to both aesthetic and conceptual intentions and outcomes. Since these three artists represent three generations from within one family, the question of how that familial relationship does or does not impinge on the artistic output will be explored. Inevitably, the fact that the first of the three was a [...]

Oct 18, 2020

“Trauma, Memory and Art”
An interdisciplinary virtual conference
with Ori Z. Soltes, Larry R. Squire,
Natan P.F. Kellermann and Eva Fogelman

2020-11-12T11:42:45-05:00October 18th, 2020|, , |Comments Off on “Trauma, Memory and Art”
An interdisciplinary virtual conference
with Ori Z. Soltes, Larry R. Squire,
Natan P.F. Kellermann and Eva Fogelman

WATCH THE RECORDING OF THIS EVENT HERE. In this interdisciplinary conference, four experts discuss the transmission of Holocaust trauma and memory against the backdrop of art. The starting point of the discussion is the art of Holocaust survivor Alice Lok Cahana and how artistic sensibilities, traumatic memory—and a sense of obligation to improve the world—have been expressed through three generations of her family—both in who her children and grandchildren are and in how they express themselves artistically. The discussion will amplify this layered issue from other angles: what have recent biological and psychological investigations offered, regarding what memory is and how it works, if and how trauma can be carried in the DNA—and the implications of all of this for [...]

Oct 14, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #36, October 2020

2020-11-24T20:14:35-05:00October 14th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #36, October 2020

Dear Friends, On October 17 we celebrate Fritz Ascher’s birthday - this year with the launch of DigiFAS - diverse, innovative digital initiatives that provide new ways of engagement with the art and life of artists persecuted by an authoritarian regime. DigiFAS is generously sponsored by Allianz Partners. This launch includes the Society’s first-ever fully digital exhibition “Fritz Ascher: Themes and Variations.” You can explore the exhibition HERE. We have worked on this for months and can’t wait for your reactions! We also invite you to participate in the 2- week digital engagement project “Send in the Clowns,” which explores the clown as a figure between tragedy and comedy, between self- identification [...]

Sep 17, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #35, September 2020

2020-09-17T22:58:37-04:00September 17th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #35, September 2020

Forum Jacob Pins in Höxter, Germany Dear Friends, The Jewish New Year is upon us, and it feels as if the New keeps coming. The exhibition “The Loner. Clowns in Fritz Ascher's Art (1893-1970)” at Forum Jacob Pins in Höxter, Germany was opened with an event following  social distancing rules, my video greeting and a concert in the courtyard. The exhibition is on view until November 29, and I very much encourage you to see it (more information HERE). In the exhibition, Ascher’s depictions of clowns are contrasted with depictions of  nature, which dominated his post-Holocaust work. Inspired by the nearby Grunewald, the artist created vivid landscapes and powerful close-ups of the sun, trees and flowers, which [...]

Aug 20, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #34, August 2020

2020-08-20T21:32:19-04:00August 20th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #34, August 2020

Dear Friends, What a strange summer this is. But I have exciting news of some degree of normalcy: an exhibition in Germany! This is no small feast in these times, and I am thankful to my co-curator Julia Diekmann for her flexibility and creativity in co-organizing the exhibition. Who would have thought that the largest hurdle is getting the artwork out of the locked down campus of Richmond University? In the end it all worked - our shipper Cadogan Tate had just taken up operation again and flight schedules for art opened up, the drawings, which have never been shown before will be matted and framed practically overnight, the artwork will be hanged as fast as it probably never [...]

Jul 9, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #33, July 2020

2020-07-15T15:54:15-04:00July 9th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #33, July 2020

Dear Friends, Antisemitism and racism are not the same. But they are both based on the lack of regard to the values this country was founded on: freedom, justice and equality. As a proud immigrant, I deeply believe in these values, admire the dynamic energy of this country, and hope that this unprecedented time helps speed up the process towards realizing these ideals of freedom, justice and equality for all. As an individual and as the executive director of the Fritz Ascher Society, I strive to do my part in this process. The Fritz Ascher Society tells the stories of artists, who lived and worked in Germany, as the country abandoned its first and very fragile democracy and instead [...]

May 30, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #32, May 2020

2020-06-02T16:23:50-04:00May 30th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #32, May 2020

Dear Friends, I hope you and your families are well despite the continuing challenges, both physical and psychological.  “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond, Virginia “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond, Virginia These are the last impressions of “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond. The exhibition is now officially closed, even though the artwork will stay in solitary confinement until the art shippers are back in business. This past week, we celebrated Fritz Ascher, the exhibition in Richmond, and the winners of our competition, with a virtual event. [...]

Apr 24, 2020

IN-PERSON CONFERENCE: Welcoming the Stranger.
Abrahamic Hospitality and Contemporary Implications
Fordham University, New York

2023-06-04T15:02:06-04:00April 24th, 2020|, |Comments Off on IN-PERSON CONFERENCE: Welcoming the Stranger.
Abrahamic Hospitality and Contemporary Implications
Fordham University, New York

One of the signal moments in the narrative of Abraham is his insistent and enthusiastic reception of three strangers. That moment is a beginning point of inspiration for all three Abrahamic traditions as they evolve and develop the details of their respective teachings. On the one hand, welcoming the stranger by remembering “that you were strangers in the land of Egypt” is enjoined upon the ancient Israelites, and on the other, oppressing the stranger is condemned by their prophets. These sentiments will be repeated in the New Testament and the Qur’an and elaborated in the interpretive literatures of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Such notions have been seriously challenged on many occasions throughout history—at no time more profoundly than in [...]

Mar 26, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #31, March 2020

2020-03-26T08:37:32-04:00March 26th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #31, March 2020

Dear Friends, How much has our life changed over the past few days! “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond, Virginia is closed. Until our online exhibition is up, you can see photos of the installation here. “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond, Virginia We also invite you to be part of our free online conversations, which we will announce on our website, on Facebook, and on Twitter. “Housebound and Hiding. From Fritz Ascher in 1942 to Ourselves Today in 2020” is the first conversation on Thursday, on March 26th, at 8:00pm EDT, commemorating the 50th anniversary of [...]

Feb 6, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #30, February 2020

2020-02-06T08:01:15-05:00February 6th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #30, February 2020

Dear Friends, “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” is now on view at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond, Virginia, until May 24 (link). You can listen to my opening lecture here. “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond, Virginia In every venue, different hanging bring out new aspects of single artworks, and unexpected connections between artworks provide new insights. The Harnett Museum of Art is no exception. For the first time, “The Tortured” (“Der Gequälte”) takes up center stage. It is a monumental painting measuring 59 x 79.4 inches. Fritz Ascher created it in the 1920s, as social and racial tensions in [...]

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