Brooklyn Hadas Gallery Features Art Exhibit commemorating October 7 – from Terror to Hope
Visual artists portray themes of resilience and hope in the aftermath of October 7
Brooklyn, NY – November 20, 2024 — ATARA – The Arts and Torah Association announces the opening of an evocative art exhibition titled “October 7: Terror, Faith, Hope” at the Hadas Gallery in Clinton Hill. This art exhibition marks the first anniversary since the tragic events in Israel in October 2023.
Opening on Sunday November, 24, 2024, at the Hadas Gallery, the exhibit features works from more than 35 Jewish artists spanning North America and Israel, exploring the sorrow, resilience, and spiritual reflection in the aftermath of this tragedy. Through diverse mediums, including painting, sculpture, and video installation, these pieces are intended to help the Jewish community and a broader audience process trauma, reflect on faith, and seek healing.
Bordering Williamsburg in the diverse neighborhood of Clinton Hill, the exhibit brings together Jews throughout from a wide range of communities including Lakewood, Monsey, Teaneck, Five Towns, Riverdale, Edison, Crown Heights, Boro Park and Williamsburg, aside from Canada and Israel. Regardless of religious affiliation, the exhibit provides a meaningful space for engagement and dialogue based on a common identity as Jews around the role of art in healing, particularly following significant collective trauma experienced by the Jewish people worldwide.
Works include installation artist Michal Neiman’s “We Will Dance Again,” figures dancing with 364 butterflies to represent the 364 angels lost at Nova, a Torah mantle designed by artist Yitzchok Moully in memory of the kedoshim, as well as works by Archie Rand, Ken Goldman, Haim Sherrf, illustrator Chani Judowitz, Williamsburg’s Pinny Segal Landau, Sarah Begun, Ilan Block and renowned performer Lipa Shmeltzer.
Hadas Gallery is a project of Chabad Of Clinton Hill and Pratt University. Being in the melting pot of Brooklyn, their community reflects and embraces the diversity of the neighborhood and celebrates exploring, incubating, and showcasing creative expression.
Curator Abigail H. Meyer is an art historian and museum educator specializing in Jewish visual arts and material culture, having worked for a New York City auction house and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “We hope these pieces will inspire faith and a path forward in the face of ongoing tragedy in Israel and among the Jewish people” said Meyer. “This is also an opportunity for the Orthodox community to participate in an exhibition marking the first anniversary of the tragedy of October 7th. Consideration has been given to welcome art lovers and visitors of all ages and backgrounds to experience the visual imagery and taste of New York art culture.”
“We encourage dialogue about the healing potential for arts,” said the exhibition manager and ATARA director Miriam Leah Gamliel. ATARA builds community among artists and promotes arts in Orthodoxy. “Art is a powerful tool to express emotions and messages – we can look to artists as our “speakers” to express and process experiences we collectively share, but through beauty, and thereby transport us gently from pain to hope.”
Visitors were invited to explore the collection, engage with the artists and participate in this powerful act of communal healing at the opening reception on Sunday Nov 24, 6-9pm. To schedule tours for school, synagogue and private groups contact CuratorTourOct7@gmail.com. For more information about the exhibit including public hours or work for purchase contact visualarts@artsandtorah.org, or visit artsandtorah.org/october7 to view the catalog or upcoming events.
Photo credits: Rony Yusupov and Abigail H. Meyer
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