1942 (Poznan): A Video by Uriel Orlow (Last Day) Jewish Museum New York City Manhattan - United States History: archeology Sun 1 Feb 2009
History: archeology
Sun 1 Feb 2009
2009
February 2009
Sunday 1 February 2009
Sun 1 Feb. 1109 Fifth Avenue, New York, 10128. Alex Wittenberg, 212-423-3271. Jewish Museum - [email][events]
1942 (Poznan) memorializes a place, a people, and one of the darkest periods in European history. The video begins with a close-up of a tiled floor. The camera then rises to reveal an indoor pool with a lone swimmer in slow motion. As a cantor chants a memorial prayer in Hebrew, the camera exposes the building's vaulted ceiling and seating area above the main entrance, revealing the building's history. Orlow's video is a provocative reflection on the uses of former synagogues in once-vibrant Jewish communities decimated by Nazism and forgotten under Communism