“Let My People Go”
THE SOVIET JEWRY MOVEMENT 1967-1989
JANICE CHARACH GALLERY
Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus 6600 W. Maple Road West Bloomfield, MI 48322 www.jccdet.org
Featuring an exhibit from Israel’s Beit Hatfutsot Museum Exclusive Midwest engagement. Plus the story of Metro Detroit’s Russian-Jewish community, events, lectures, theatre, films, a Russian Tea Room party and more.
June 8 - July 25, 2013 Exhibition and sale
Please join us for
Thank you to our sponsors Alan Amcheslavsky – Home One Realty Oleg Amcheslavsky Silvio Guglielmo Benvenuti Jeffrey Charach Natalie & Manny Charach Dimitry Selector – Home One Realty Neal & Esther Zalenko Raymond & Atara Zimmerman Foundation Central Carpet Wholesale – Belogolvsky Family
“Let My People Go!” The Soviet Jewry Movement 1967-1989 EXHIBITION AND SALE
Opening reception: Sunday, June 9, 1 p.m. “Let My People Go!” depicts a heroic chapter in Jewish history, and especially Metro Detroit history, and a powerful example of Jewish solidarity. On loan from the Israel Beit Hatfutsot Museum in Israel, this exhibit tells the struggle by and on behalf of Soviet Jews to make aliyah and the sacrifices they made to assert their Jewish identity and gain religious freedom.
GALLERY HOURS Monday-Thursday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday: Noon-4 p.m. The Gallery is open to the public at no admission. Visit the Gallery opening livestream at https://livestre.am/3tixs
248.432.5579 www.charachgallery.org
• P hotos, posters and documentary film clips that tell the story of Jewish life in the former Soviet Union • Portraits and stories of Detroit’s Russian-Jewish families • Samovars from throughout the years • A collection of matryoshka (nesting) dolls • You are there! Experience what it was like to be a Russian immigrant to Israel • The story of Russian graffiti
• The “Lost and Found Project,”a RussianJewish theatre troupe • “Eastern European Political Evolution of Jewish Identity,” lecture by Dr. Zvi Gitelman • “The Spray Can Is Mightier Than The Sword,” lecture by Alexis M. Zimberg • “A Chelm Story” by the Detroit Puppet Theatre • Russian Tea Room, with dessert reception and entertainment • A showing of the extraordinary film “Refusenik”
All events are free unless otherwise noted.
“Let My People Go!”
Films, photos and posters from the Beit Hatfutsot Collection Janice Charach Gallery Throughout the exhibit The Jews of the former Soviet Union were trapped in a totalitarian state that not only forbade the existence of Jewish life but would not allow them to leave the country - and then denounced them as traitors. Ultimately, the struggle waged by Soviet Jews captured headlines throughout the world and garnered support from political leaders, public figures, Jews and gentiles. These historic images, on loan from Beit Hatfutsot, tell this unforgettable story.
Local Heroes
A Sampling of Samovars
Janice Charach Gallery
Janice Charach Gallery
Throughout the exhibit
Throughout the exhibit
Learn how an extraordinary group of men, women and children left the Soviet Union and arrived in Metro Detroit with virtually nothing – then went on to become some of the city’s most successful business people and involved community leaders.
The first recorded samovar makers in Russia were brother Ivan and Nazar Fyodorovich, who registered their samovar-making factory in Russia in 1778. Since then, samovars have become an important fixture in virtually every Russian home, popular both for their beauty and practical use of providing hot water for tea during the long winters.
Oh, You Beautiful Doll! Janice Charach Gallery Throughout the exhibit A matryoshka, or nesting doll, consists of a series of figures that fit one inside another until the last, tiny shape emerges. The first Russian matryoshka consisted of eight dolls and made its debut at the Exposition Universelle in 1900 in Paris. Don’t miss the Gallery’s exquisite collection that includes more than 30 one-of-a-kind dolls created by local artists and available for purchase.
Making Aliyah: Saying Goodbye to Eastern Europe Shalom Street Museum Throughout the exhibit Come on a fantastic voyage to explore how 1 million Eastern European Jewish families made aliyah. Experience what it was like to be a new immigrant as you walk in the footsteps of someone making a new life in Israel. Participants will receive their own Shalom Street passport to be stamped along the tour.
The Writing on the Wall
The Lost & Found Project
Janice Charach Gallery
Saturday, June 8 - 7 p.m. Sunday, June 9 - 1 p.m.
Throughout the exhibit
The Berman Center for the Performing Arts
Graffiti artists have long been a part of Russia’s underground and, over the years, their unique works have come to be celebrated both as art and political statement. Today, both Moscow and St. Petersburg host festivals for the country’s leading graffiti artists, who often freestyle and even work blindfolded.
Tickets: JCC members: $16 / Non-members: $19 To purchase: 248.661.1900, theberman.org or at The Berman box office. The Lost & Found Project is an experimental theatrical production performed by a cast of 10 Russian-Jewish actors who were born in the 1970s and ’80s in the former Soviet Union and immigrated to the United States.
This impressive collection of photos will chronicle the way in which graffiti in Russia has served as a voice for many who otherwise would remain silent.
Photos by Alexis M. Zimberg
Founded and produced by Ann Zicer and based in New York, the program incorporates elements of experimental theatre, movement and voice techniques. The play is presented in snapshots, depicting a dialogue between the past and present. The goal of this project, which held its premiere in March 2012, was to give young RussianJewish actors an opportunity to become more aware of their family stories through a process of personal research and investigation. The troupe is making plans to tour the United States, Canada, Russia and Israel.
OROGA OROGA LOST& FOUND
p r e s e nthe t s past l a uthrough n c h e vthe e npresent: t Rediscovering
A THEATRICAL EXPERIMENT
An interactive play that explores personal family stories and immigrant experiences through narratives and dramatic snapshots.
Rediscovering the past through the present:
MARCH 8 AT 8PM MARCH 14-18 AT 8PM
FRANKEL THEATRE JCC in Manhattan GENE ATheTHEATRICAL EXPERIMENT 24 Bond Street, New York, NY An interactive play that explores personal family stories TICKETS $20 TICKETS $ 20 and immigrant experiences through narratives and 334 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY
CLICK TO BUY TICKETS TO BUY TICKETS dramatic CLICK snapshots.
by MARCH 8Directed AT 8PM Conceived produced by The JCCand in Manhattan 334 Amsterdam Ave, New York, by NY Co-produced Written by Honorary artistic director CLICK TO BUY TICKETS Score composer Contributing author Directed by Featuring Conceived and produced by Co-produced by Written by Honorary artistic director Score composer Contributing author
BEN SARGENT MARCH 14-18 AT 8PM
ANNA GENEZICER FRANKEL THEATRE 24 Bond REYDLER Street, New York, NY MARINA LOST&FOUND CAST BRYNA CLICKWASSERMAN TO BUY TICKETS DMITRI ‘ZISL’ SLEPOVITCH SOPHIA ROMMA BEN SARGENT ALYA ADELMAN, ANNA ZICER JORDAN ELIZABETH GELBER, MARINA REYDLER RUVYM GILMAN, MARIYA KING, LOST&FOUND CAST SERGEY NAGORNY, JANE TUV, BRYNA WASSERMAN RUSSELL VERKHOVSKY DMITRI ‘ZISL’ SLEPOVITCH BORIS ZILBERMAN SOPHIA ROMMA
TICKETS $20 TICKETS $ 20
Featuring
ALYA ADELMAN, JORDAN ELIZABETH GELBER, RUVYM GILMAN, MARIYA KING, SERGEY NAGORNY, JANE TUV, RUSSELL VERKHOVSKY BORIS ZILBERMAN
For tickets, reservations, and information visit
WWW.LOSTANDFOUNDPROD.COM OR CALL 347 366 7529
For tickets, reservations, and information visit
WWW.LOSTANDFOUNDPROD.COM OR CALL 347 366 7529
“Against All Odds: How Soviet Jews Won The Battle For Immigration Lecture by Dr. Zvi Gitelman Sunday, June 16 - 2 p.m. Janice Charach Gallery RSVP by June 13 to 248.432.5449 Zvi Gitelman is professor of political science and Preston R. Tisch Professor of Judaic at the University of Michigan. He is an expert on ethnicity and politics, especially in former Communist countries, as well as Israeli politics, East European politics and Jewish political thought and behavior. Professor Gitelman has served as associate professor and visiting lecturer at numerous institutions including
Tel Aviv University, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and Central European University (Budapest), and on the boards of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry at Brandeis University; the Michigan Regional Advisory Board of the AntiDefamation League; the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Council and many more. Professor Gitelman is the author of numerous articles and books, including Jewish Identities in Postcommunist Russia and Ukraine: An Uncertain Ethnicity, published last year by Cambridge University Press.
“The Spray Can Is Mightier Than the Sword: Street Arts as a Medium for Political Discourse in Russia”
Detroit Puppet Theatre “A Chelm Story”
Sunday, June 23 - 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. performances
Lecture by Alexis M. Zimberg
The Berman Center for the Performing Arts
Thursday, June 20 - 7 p.m.
All tickets: Adults: $12 / Children: $10 To purchase: 248.661.1900, theberman.org or at The Berman box office.
Janice Charach Gallery RSVP by June 8 to 248.432.5449 It has been more than 20 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, yet Russia and its former republics have failed to embrace complete freedom of expression; politicians, journalists and artists continue to be subject to the party line. Yet there are places in the former Soviet Union where creativity thrives: alleys and abandoned buildings, park benches and trains form the curious palettes of the country’s secret graffiti artists.
In search of politically vocal street art and street artists, Post-Soviet Graffiti Director and former Georgetown University graduate student Alexis Zimberg spent years walking throughout Hungary, Russia, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Poland and Latvia. Come learn this amazing and internationally acclaimed story of defiance, courage and hope. Photos by Alexis M. Zimberg
PuppetART Center is located in Detroit’s Theater District and was founded in 1998 by a group of puppeteers and artists trained in the former Soviet Union. All members of the PuppetART troupe are masters of puppetry art theater and present programs featuring hand, rod, shadow, floor tabletop and string or marionettes. PuppetART performances have been seen throughout the state of Michigan as well as in Alabama, Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana. In “A Chelm Story,” PuppetART tells the story of Mendel, a man whose thoughts are often in the clouds and filled with dreams. One day, he decides to leave everything behind and make a trip to exciting Warsaw. But he is in for quite a surprise when a shepherd gets hold of Mendel’s boots.
The Russian Tea Room
“Refusenik”
Thursday, July 11, 7-9 p.m. Marion & David Handleman Hall (JCC West Bloomfield)
Thursday, July 25, 7 p.m. Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue For information and to RSVP call 248.432.5449
Tickets: $5 Please call for reservations by July 1 248.432.5449 The Russian Tea Room was founded in 1927 by members of the Russian Imperial Ballet, whose principals have included Vaslav Nijinsky, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Since its establishment, the Russian Tea Room has become New York City’s favorite spot for leading actors, writers, politicians, executives and cultural icons. Please visit the Janice Charach Gallery’s Russian Tea Room for an elegant tea party, exquisite desserts and exceptional artistic talent as you experience the grandeur of days long ago.
This event also includes: • “ Music Around the World” by Overtime, featuring Harry Hovakimian and Peter Levitin •R ussian and Jewish folk music by Gennady Zut on balalaika and Tatyana Zut on piano • A ballet solo by Maria Repnikova • Viola
“Refusenik,” the first documentary to chronicle the 35-year movement to free Soviet Jews, shows how a small, grassroots effort bold enough to take on a Cold War superpower became an international human rights campaign. Told through the eyes of activists on both sides of the Iron Curtain - many of whom survived punishment in Soviet Gulag labor camps – it is a tapestry of first-person accounts of heroism, sacrifice, and ultimately, liberation. Much of the material used in “Refusenik” is exclusive to this film, including photographs and covert footage smuggled out of the former Soviet Union.