26 Feb …and Europe will be stunned: A Film Trilogy by Yael Barlana @ UCI
Last year in Europe, I happened upon the second film in Yael Barlana’s trilogy, ...and Europe will be stunned. Mur I wiieza (Wall and Tower 2009) shows a new kibbutz being constructed in the what was the heart of the Jewish residential area in Poland before the war, and then a part of Warsaw Ghetto. In this film Barlana tracks the activities of the Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland (JRMiP), a new political group established by the artist Barlana, that calls for the return of 3,300,000 Jews to the land of their forefathers. Seeing this film on European soil, with the multiple histories of anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, and competing nationalisms, was a powerful experience.
This weekend I happened upon UCI’s new Contemporary Art Center and discovered that the CAC is now showing all three films from Yael Barlana’s trilogy. The shift in context removes no effectiveness from this powerful body of work. As a matter of fact, in this election year where religion and immigration are now taking the forefront in the Republican primary, Barlana’s examination of our readiness to accept the other and of the complexities of cultural integration in an unstable world where geography and politics are subject to radical shifts, is more timely than ever on U.S. soil. The exhibition runs until March 10th, don’t miss it.
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