Kristallnacht Commemoration
RAE STERN
November 7, 2019 7 P.M.
Belger Crane Yard Studios
2011 Tracy Ave, Kansas City, MO 64108
This year’s community-wide Kristallnacht commemoration will feature a program presented by Israeli-American artist Rae Stern. She will talk about her current exhibition, In Fugue, on display at the Belger Crane Yard Studios. Talk will start at 7 P.M. A light reception will begin at 6:30 to allow attendees to view the exhibition.
Rae Stern: In Fugue features new, groundbreaking works in porcelain and paper. On view September 26, 2019 – January 5th, 2020 at the Belger Crane Yard Gallery, the exhibition focuses on the elusive and ephemeral nature of memory as both a personal and universal phenomenon. Through the manipulation of the translucent attributes of porcelain and paper, and with innovative use of digital technology, the works pose questions about the relationship between object, memory, and time.
The artwork was created during Stern’s term as Visiting Artist at the Belger Crane Yard Studios Fall 2018 – Summer 2019, and includes an immersive installation she created in collaboration with Aya Margulis as well as works in other mediums. During her visit, Stern conducted community outreach to locate pre-WWII images from the personal albums of local Kansas City Holocaust survivors and their family members. The images depicted in the porcelain lithophanes portray daily scenes from pre-war life in communities across Europe that were later annihilated.
As the current global refugee crisis intensifies, the exhibition invites viewers to consider the fragility of reality and reflect upon how immigrants and refugees from all societies leave behind rich memories of normalcy, culture, and love.
Bio:
Rae Stern is an Israeli-American artist residing in New York City. As a new-media artist, Stern incorporates digital tools in the manipulation of multiple mediums – including ceramics, photography, paper, and textiles. Over a decade of experience working in the high-tech industry has influenced Stern’s art and fueled her interest in the social and cultural effects of technology.
Stern holds a master’s degree from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, as well as an undergraduate degree from the Tel Aviv University. Stern’s interest in the ceramic medium has led her to pursue clay-centric training opportunities and residencies at Penland School of Crafts, NC, Greenwich House Pottery, NY and Anderson Ranch, CO, among others. Most recently, Stern spent a year as a full time Visiting Artist at the Belger Crane Yard Studios in Kansas City, MO. Notable shows include the Six Ceramic Biennial at the Eretz Israel Museum, Ceramic Top 40 at both Belger Arts and Harvard University, and Dish at Medalta Museum. Her work is included in the Eretz Israel Museum collection, as well as in private collections in Israel and the USA. She has also received support in the form of fellowships and grants from UNESCO, Asylum Arts, the Schusterman Foundation, and Belger Arts.
Photo Credit: Saj Issa
Complimentary reservations are available by calling 913-327-8196 or emailing rsvp@mchekc.org.
These events, designed to appear as spontaneous, came to be known as Kristallnacht (commonly translated as “Night of Broken Glass”) a reference to the broken windows of synagogues, Jewish-owned stores, community centers, and homes destroyed and plundered by the rioters. In all, 267 synagogues were burned or destroyed, 7,500 Jewish businesses were vandalized or looted, at least 91 Jewish people were killed, and approximately 30,000 Jewish men were imprisoned in concentration camps. Rioters also damaged Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, and schools while police and fire brigades stood aside, under orders to intervene only if the fires threatened non-Jewish property.
Kristallnacht ended the illusion that normal Jewish life under the Nazis was still possible. It also marked a turning point in Nazi anti-Jewish policy that would culminate in the Holocaust—the systematic, state-sponsored mass murder of the European Jews.