Exhibitions

Artist-in-Residence Rochelle Rubinstein exhibits work on wood, paper, fabric, and accordion-folded books exploring the theme of National Narratives in the Mon Ton Window Gallery, viewable 24/7, and in her studio, which is transformed into a pop-up gallery in honour of HEW 2013. The artist will be present for conversation and tea.

The Artist-in-Residence is generously sponsored by Collins Barrow LLP and by Julia & Henry Koschitzky in memory of Judith Rubinstein.

Following the publication of her critically acclaimed graphic novel, I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors in 2006, artist Bernice Eisenstein began to explore portraiture as an attempt “to depict the essence, the spirit of a life . . . to make what is invisible visible.” Eisenstein believes that each individual contains a library of memory and that portraiture can encapsulate the essential components of it into a distilled composition. Words and other abstracted fragments appear as poignant symbols in these visual narratives whose power exceeds the sum of its parts.

Bernice Eisenstein is the author of the highly acclaimed graphic memoir, I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors, which was translated into ten languages, and received the Jewish Book Award. It has been adapted into a NFB animated short film, voted by the Toronto International Film Festival among Canada’s Top Ten Short films of 2010. Eisenstein’s artwork has appeared in exhibitions in Europe and the United States. Her forthcoming book, Correspondences, with the writer Anne Michaels, will be published in fall 2013 by McClelland & Stewart. She lives in Toronto.

Generously co-sponsored by Richard Pivnick and Annette Metz Pivnick and by Danny Pivnick, in honour of George Metz, who survived the Holocaust, and in memory of his sister Cesia and other family members who perished in the Holocaust.

Before the deep fissure caused by the Second World War, Poland was a dynamic Jewish centre for more than 1,000 years. Today’s Polish landscape is dotted with sites of Jewish presence and absence. Synagogues, former Jewish neighbourhoods and ghettos, old cemeteries, and more have gripped David Kaufman’s attention for nearly a decade. In richly detailed, large-scale photographs, he has captured many inherently beautiful spaces ranging from ruined memorial gardens to restored places of worship. Rejecting a narrow view of post-Holocaust Poland, his work reveals the striking complexity of a place slowly embracing its Jewish past and present.

David Kaufman is a Toronto-based photographer whose work focuses on architecture and the urban landscape. His recent photography exhibition of Toronto’s heritage streetscapes was named a must-see show of the CONTACT Festival by Toronto Life, NOW Magazine and Xtra! Kaufman is also a documentary filmmaker whose films have screened around the world.

Please join an opening reception on October 29 at 7 PM with remarks from the artist and guest curator, Evelyn Tauben.

Precious Legacy is a photography exhibit that celebrates the lives Holocaust survivors built after the devastation of the Shoah. Through the lens of his camera, Elliott Sylman will tell the story of the men, women and children who lived through unspeakable tragedy and went on to create beautiful new lives despite their harrowing past. Community members can view these striking portraits beginning on November 1st, displayed near the Bathurst Street Entrance of Baycrest Hospital. This project will not only educate people about the remarkable lives of these survivors, but will ensure that their legacy will continue for generations to come.

Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the Bathurst Street Entrance of Baycrest. Free to the public.

Generously co-sponsored by Marilyn and Stephen Sinclair and the WordCheck Translation team in honour of Honey and Barry Sherman for their outstanding leadership and commitment to Holocaust education.