In conjunction with the Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna exhibition, we worked with the International Commission and the Vilnius Yiddish Institute to host a 1.5-day teachers seminar called "Everything Speaks: The Inner Life of History."
In total, there were 30 teachers who participated, 3 from Vilnius, and the rest from towns, cities and villages outside of the capital. They were a fantastic bunch and as you will see from the photos, had great fun sharing their ideas and creativity with us! On day 1, we held the seminar at the Tolerance Centre. It wasn't a classroom setting, so the setting was fairly informal and conducive to lots of sharing. Everyone was a real sport, and got stuck in, on the floors, on stage, and every nook and corner they could find to work on their group activities.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
The day began with a more serious activity which I led called "The Self in History." This explored the use of working with images and selected transcripts to promote deeper understanding and empathy while reconstructing life history biography. After this session, Shivaun led the rest of the more creative (and fun!) sessions; e.g. the teachers created their own visual biography with their own biographical objects and drawings. Since the sharing was quite personal, I won't elaborate here. Suffice to say that some comments received included - "it is amazing how much we can learn about a person just from a few images to the things they use to represent themselves." Some of the artwork was really innovative stuff - drawings that turned into 3D craftwork, narratives which revealed itself along with the artwork that was folded like an accordian...
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
The next day, we moved to the Vilnius Yiddish Institute, and despite the small space, everyone again let their hair down and shared. Some of the ideas for classroom activities were truly innovative. We had great fun and thank all the teachers for participating and for sharing, and of course to Ingrida Vilkiene, from the International Commission, who also actively participated, and Ruta Puisyte of the Vilnius Yiddish Institute. How she does simultaneous translations remains a mystery to me! A true gift and talent :)
To view these photos on Flickr, click on the links below
Day 1 - Teachers Seminar
Day 2 - Teachers Seminar
Showing posts with label Tolerance Centre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tolerance Centre. Show all posts
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
H.E. Simon Butt's speeach
Still on the subject of the opening launch of the Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna exhibition in Vilnius...
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the speech given by H.E. Simon Butt was really good. So I have reproduced it here:
“I am very pleased that the British Embassy is, with Ireland, one of the embassy co-hosts of this important exhibition opening.
Why important? Because the context of the exhibition is a uniquely horrible event in 20th century history, and indeed the whole of human history- the Holocaust (Shoah), and specifically, the Holocaust in Lithuania. It is an event which must never be forgotten and which must be remembered afresh for each generation.
Second, important because of the perspective, the exhibition and accompanying documentary bring to the narrative of that event, to the process of remembering. It is possible to read all the facts, the terrible lists of locations, numbers killed and on what dates.
But every human life is a collection of experience, of emotions and of individual characteristics. These are all snuffed out when that life is lost. And every community, however small, is a collective experience with its own features which are also lost when the community is destroyed or dispersed. And here, the story is told through an awareness of the importance of that individual and community experience.
This gives the story a greater sense of immediacy, and a more tragic and personal dimension. And so the images may remain with us for longer and add an element of emotion to the experience of learning, understanding and remembering.
Our sense of solidarity with those who survived is also enhanced, along with our respect for the dead.
So I congratulate the organisers of the exhibition and documentary film on their achievement. I hope we can dedicate this event to the contemplation and remembering of what has been lost, as well as to the courage and fortitude of those who survived.”
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the speech given by H.E. Simon Butt was really good. So I have reproduced it here:
“I am very pleased that the British Embassy is, with Ireland, one of the embassy co-hosts of this important exhibition opening.
Why important? Because the context of the exhibition is a uniquely horrible event in 20th century history, and indeed the whole of human history- the Holocaust (Shoah), and specifically, the Holocaust in Lithuania. It is an event which must never be forgotten and which must be remembered afresh for each generation.
Second, important because of the perspective, the exhibition and accompanying documentary bring to the narrative of that event, to the process of remembering. It is possible to read all the facts, the terrible lists of locations, numbers killed and on what dates.
But every human life is a collection of experience, of emotions and of individual characteristics. These are all snuffed out when that life is lost. And every community, however small, is a collective experience with its own features which are also lost when the community is destroyed or dispersed. And here, the story is told through an awareness of the importance of that individual and community experience.
This gives the story a greater sense of immediacy, and a more tragic and personal dimension. And so the images may remain with us for longer and add an element of emotion to the experience of learning, understanding and remembering.
Our sense of solidarity with those who survived is also enhanced, along with our respect for the dead.
So I congratulate the organisers of the exhibition and documentary film on their achievement. I hope we can dedicate this event to the contemplation and remembering of what has been lost, as well as to the courage and fortitude of those who survived.”
Friday, 11 September 2009
We Remember Them - Poem
At the opening of the Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna exhibition in Vilnius, we included the reading of a poem called "We Remember Them" by Sylvan Kamens & Rabbi Jack Riemer. Shivaun had the idea to have it translated, and Fania Brantsovsky was kind enough to translate it into Yiddish and to read it. Ruta Puisyte felt that it was imperative that it was read in all languages, and by the young, the generation after, and said movingly that this poem reflected how she felt, of the importance of remembering those who were lost and those who are still with us, and that it echoed how she felt within herself and of how those who were lost have become a part of us and of her. Her colleague Indra from the Vilnius Yiddish Institute read it in English. It was so moving to hear those words repeated in Lithuanian, English and Yiddish - we remember them.
"We Remember Them"
At the rising of the sun and at its going down
We remember them.
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter
We remember them.
At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring
We remember them.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer
We remember them.
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn
We remember them.
At the beginning of the year and when it ends
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us
as we remember them.
When we are weary and in need of strength
We remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart
We remember them.
When we have joy we crave to share
We remember them.
When we have decisions that are difficult to make
We remember them.
When we have achievements that are based on theirs
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us
as we remember them.
Fania read the poem in Yiddish...
Ruta read it in Lithuanian...
Indra read it in English
"We Remember Them"
At the rising of the sun and at its going down
We remember them.
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter
We remember them.
At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring
We remember them.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer
We remember them.
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn
We remember them.
At the beginning of the year and when it ends
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us
as we remember them.
When we are weary and in need of strength
We remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart
We remember them.
When we have joy we crave to share
We remember them.
When we have decisions that are difficult to make
We remember them.
When we have achievements that are based on theirs
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us
as we remember them.
Surviving History Opens in Vilnius, 10 Sept 2009
Wow, if I had to pick a word to describe the opening launch last night of the Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna exhibition in Vilnius, I would choose the word "overwhelming"....
Guests began to arrive 40 minutes ahead of the opening, sending us into a mini state of flux. Ieva, the head of the Tolerance Centre, was - like me - totally surprised - "20 minutes maybe, but 40 minutes?" she said to me, and we scrambled to bring out exhibition booklets and give the exhibition a last minute look over. But I digress...
Why was I overwhelmed? It was like a meeting of old friends. The narrators who had shared their stories with us, who were featured in the documentary as well as the exhibition, and here I have to name them - Berl Glazer, Cholem Sapsai, Fania Brantsovsky, Gita Geseleva, Isroel Galperin, Josef Levinson and Rachel Kostanian - greeted us and all who came with warmth, with open arms, and open hearts.
Those who were not there were sorely missed. Margarita Civuncik, who had passed away on the 23 June. Her daughter Luda came and the moment she saw the visual biography exhibit, filled with her mother's handwriting and poems, and images, and old photos... she just broke down. As I hugged her, I could feel her sadness and her pride, all mingled in her loss and longing.
Dora Pilianskiene, who is too frail to attend the event but her daughter Frida and son came and avidly checked out her photos and her visual biography exhibits. They were beaming.
Chasia Spanerflig, who is away on her annual holiday trip with her daughter...
Gita, who looked like a vision from heaven, she was shining - I can't describe it otherwise. When I greeted her, she hugged me tight and squeezed my hand and I could feel the love, the longing, the... I don't know what else. But I know it was a tremendous surge of energy. She looked at me, her eyes began to glisten and I started tearing... I had no words for her, as I speak neither Russian nor Lithuanian, so all I could do was repeat what I knew, "aciu" (thank you) and she said, "danke" in return.
Cholem, when he came through the door, gave us juicy kisses on the cheek and bear hugs. Who told me later, translated through Ruta of course, that he was pleased, that we had promised and had delivered. And who, of course, extracted from us the promise to drop by and visit when we next came.
Fania, with her ever-present smile, was as always, warm and enthusiastic and even played guide to the guests by showing them around the exhibits!
Rachel, who was effusive, and thanked us for the event, who has played such a big part in the project and who spoke at some events for us in the UK.
What can I say? But a very big and warm and grateful and sincere and loving 'thank you.' Thank you for your courage, thank you for your strength.
Because it certainly cannot be easy. To see your photos on the wall, to see your face adorning a piece of art, to see your life story interpreted subjectively by others, to see your face on screen, as we showed the Surviving History documentary. I think Isroel was a little overwhelmed by seeing himself on the screen of the auditorium. Perhaps he relived his pain; I watched out of the corner of my eye and felt really bad - he seemed a little distressed.
Josef was like a shining knight; he is a man of presence, nevermind his 90+ years. And you will see in the photos how he lit up the room.
Embassy officials were there to lend their support - from Poland, Russia, Japan, UK, Ireland, Germany, Hungary... Members of the Jewish community, some out of town visitors, and students who had trekked over from Vilnius University... H.E. Simon Butt, British ambassador to Lithuania, gave a lovely speech.
Polina Shepherd, who had flown in that day (she woke at 3am to get from Brighton to London Heathrow to catch her flight!) - God bless her! - put on a stirring and moving performance. I really loved the smile on Fania's face as she sang along and Isroel too.
Even Zara, the designer who has worked with us on this project, came too. And she was moved to tears and told me she was touched to be in the same place as the narrators whom she has come to know through the work - but until last night, from a distance.
Jesse covered the floor like a papparazzo, and caught the action from every angle - literally! Shivaun was beaming. What a night! What a night! A BIG thank you to all who came, about 150 in all, the students who filed in and filled the seats on the balcony, the ones who came early, the ones who came late, all who came and were a part of a special night. And especially to the wonderful people who made this project possible and the resulting exhibition and teachers seminar - the narrators, Ruta, Ieva, Ingrida, Jesse and Dan, and if I have missed out anyone, you know who you are :)
Below are slide shows of the photos from the event. Most of the photos are captioned but don't show up in the slideshow. So, if you wish to read the captions to these photos, you will have to go to our Flickr site to view these photo albums individually. (Links below)
Slide show 1
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
Slide show 2
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
To view the photos individually (and with captions)
---------------------------------------------------
Today was the first day of the Teachers Seminar. Shivaun is totally knocked out. For an insomniac, she has been asleep since 8.30pm! More on that in a future blog! (About the workshop, not Shivaun's insomnia :)
Guests began to arrive 40 minutes ahead of the opening, sending us into a mini state of flux. Ieva, the head of the Tolerance Centre, was - like me - totally surprised - "20 minutes maybe, but 40 minutes?" she said to me, and we scrambled to bring out exhibition booklets and give the exhibition a last minute look over. But I digress...
Why was I overwhelmed? It was like a meeting of old friends. The narrators who had shared their stories with us, who were featured in the documentary as well as the exhibition, and here I have to name them - Berl Glazer, Cholem Sapsai, Fania Brantsovsky, Gita Geseleva, Isroel Galperin, Josef Levinson and Rachel Kostanian - greeted us and all who came with warmth, with open arms, and open hearts.
Those who were not there were sorely missed. Margarita Civuncik, who had passed away on the 23 June. Her daughter Luda came and the moment she saw the visual biography exhibit, filled with her mother's handwriting and poems, and images, and old photos... she just broke down. As I hugged her, I could feel her sadness and her pride, all mingled in her loss and longing.
Dora Pilianskiene, who is too frail to attend the event but her daughter Frida and son came and avidly checked out her photos and her visual biography exhibits. They were beaming.
Chasia Spanerflig, who is away on her annual holiday trip with her daughter...
Gita, who looked like a vision from heaven, she was shining - I can't describe it otherwise. When I greeted her, she hugged me tight and squeezed my hand and I could feel the love, the longing, the... I don't know what else. But I know it was a tremendous surge of energy. She looked at me, her eyes began to glisten and I started tearing... I had no words for her, as I speak neither Russian nor Lithuanian, so all I could do was repeat what I knew, "aciu" (thank you) and she said, "danke" in return.
Cholem, when he came through the door, gave us juicy kisses on the cheek and bear hugs. Who told me later, translated through Ruta of course, that he was pleased, that we had promised and had delivered. And who, of course, extracted from us the promise to drop by and visit when we next came.
Fania, with her ever-present smile, was as always, warm and enthusiastic and even played guide to the guests by showing them around the exhibits!
Rachel, who was effusive, and thanked us for the event, who has played such a big part in the project and who spoke at some events for us in the UK.
What can I say? But a very big and warm and grateful and sincere and loving 'thank you.' Thank you for your courage, thank you for your strength.
Because it certainly cannot be easy. To see your photos on the wall, to see your face adorning a piece of art, to see your life story interpreted subjectively by others, to see your face on screen, as we showed the Surviving History documentary. I think Isroel was a little overwhelmed by seeing himself on the screen of the auditorium. Perhaps he relived his pain; I watched out of the corner of my eye and felt really bad - he seemed a little distressed.
Josef was like a shining knight; he is a man of presence, nevermind his 90+ years. And you will see in the photos how he lit up the room.
Embassy officials were there to lend their support - from Poland, Russia, Japan, UK, Ireland, Germany, Hungary... Members of the Jewish community, some out of town visitors, and students who had trekked over from Vilnius University... H.E. Simon Butt, British ambassador to Lithuania, gave a lovely speech.
Polina Shepherd, who had flown in that day (she woke at 3am to get from Brighton to London Heathrow to catch her flight!) - God bless her! - put on a stirring and moving performance. I really loved the smile on Fania's face as she sang along and Isroel too.
Even Zara, the designer who has worked with us on this project, came too. And she was moved to tears and told me she was touched to be in the same place as the narrators whom she has come to know through the work - but until last night, from a distance.
Jesse covered the floor like a papparazzo, and caught the action from every angle - literally! Shivaun was beaming. What a night! What a night! A BIG thank you to all who came, about 150 in all, the students who filed in and filled the seats on the balcony, the ones who came early, the ones who came late, all who came and were a part of a special night. And especially to the wonderful people who made this project possible and the resulting exhibition and teachers seminar - the narrators, Ruta, Ieva, Ingrida, Jesse and Dan, and if I have missed out anyone, you know who you are :)
Below are slide shows of the photos from the event. Most of the photos are captioned but don't show up in the slideshow. So, if you wish to read the captions to these photos, you will have to go to our Flickr site to view these photo albums individually. (Links below)
Slide show 1
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
Slide show 2
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
To view the photos individually (and with captions)
---------------------------------------------------
Today was the first day of the Teachers Seminar. Shivaun is totally knocked out. For an insomniac, she has been asleep since 8.30pm! More on that in a future blog! (About the workshop, not Shivaun's insomnia :)
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
RIP: Margarita Civuncik, 23 June 2009
We received the sad news in late July that one of the survivors we had interviewed for this project, Margarita Civuncik, had passed away on 23 June 2009. Our condolences and prayers are with her family.
Margarita's life is a testimony to the courage of those who did not give in nor give up but found the strength and determination to persevere despite the odds.
Margarita was born Rita Tsives. She was the sixth child in a family of seven siblings. Together with the rest of her family, she was interned at Minsk ghetto and later forced into the streets during a pogrom, where convinced they would be killed, she escaped with her small daughter. She changed her name, forged identity documents, and fled, moving from village to village for the duration of the war, sometimes working, sometimes hiding, sometimes depending on the kindness of strangers. She found herself in Vilnius when the war ended and made it her home.
Her incredible experiences were recorded in her unpublished memoirs and the many poems she wrote for her children and grandchildren. Her family were her pride; she especially pointed out to us how they were a multicultural, multinational family - she told us: "The most important thing is to respect each other. It doesn’t matter what nationality a person is. I am against genocide. It is terrible… people against people. In my family, we are a mixture. We have become an international family, Lithuanian, Russian, Polish..."
We salute the amazing person Margarita was and the life she led. We are thankful for her generosity in telling us her story. The memories she shared, the gifts she gave us, her photos... these will be presented in the Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna exhibition, opening in Vilnius on 10th September 2009. We are honoured to have met Margarita, to be entrusted with passing on her experiences and the lessons she shared with us.
We salute an incredible woman, survivor, mother, grandmother.
Margarita's life is a testimony to the courage of those who did not give in nor give up but found the strength and determination to persevere despite the odds.
Margarita was born Rita Tsives. She was the sixth child in a family of seven siblings. Together with the rest of her family, she was interned at Minsk ghetto and later forced into the streets during a pogrom, where convinced they would be killed, she escaped with her small daughter. She changed her name, forged identity documents, and fled, moving from village to village for the duration of the war, sometimes working, sometimes hiding, sometimes depending on the kindness of strangers. She found herself in Vilnius when the war ended and made it her home.
Her incredible experiences were recorded in her unpublished memoirs and the many poems she wrote for her children and grandchildren. Her family were her pride; she especially pointed out to us how they were a multicultural, multinational family - she told us: "The most important thing is to respect each other. It doesn’t matter what nationality a person is. I am against genocide. It is terrible… people against people. In my family, we are a mixture. We have become an international family, Lithuanian, Russian, Polish..."
We salute the amazing person Margarita was and the life she led. We are thankful for her generosity in telling us her story. The memories she shared, the gifts she gave us, her photos... these will be presented in the Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna exhibition, opening in Vilnius on 10th September 2009. We are honoured to have met Margarita, to be entrusted with passing on her experiences and the lessons she shared with us.
We salute an incredible woman, survivor, mother, grandmother.
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