Silent Witnesses review in Detroit Jewish News

Silent Witnesses - Yona Verwer

Every week we feature several artists participating in our current exhibit Silent Witnesses: Synagogues Transformed, Rebuilt, or Left Behind - Artists Respond to History.

  

This art exhibit is organized by the Cultural Heritage Artists Project, in collaboration with the Jewish Art Salon, JWalks and the Holocaust Memorial Center. February 22 - April 14 in Metro Detroit. Exhibit info here.

Yona Verwer

A Cemetery Dodges the Wrecking Ball 

The 1967 Dodge is an homage to my parents in the Netherlands, car enthusiasts who often bought a vehicle made in the Chrysler factories of Detroit.

I produced this work influenced by Joan Roth, a photographer whose work I have admired for years. For generations Roth's family was affiliated with Congregation Shaarey Tzedek, which is now the caretaker of Beth Olem, the oldest Jewish cemetery in Michigan.  

My work is centered around this burial place, a religious site that has seen as much urban change as the community's synagogue buildings. At one time this cemetery was in a peaceful setting, but as the manufacturing plant of Dodge Chrysler expanded the cemetery became surrounded by an industrial parking lot. Eventually the Dodge plant closed, and without moving, the site is now located on the grounds of General Motors. Thanks to state laws Beth Olem Cemetery is restored and accessible to the public once a year. 

Silent Witnesses - Julian Voloj

Every week we feature several artists participating in our current exhibit Silent Witnesses: Synagogues Transformed, Rebuilt, or Left Behind - Artists Respond to History.

  

This is an art exhibit organized by the Cultural Heritage Artists Project, in collaboration with the Jewish Art Salon, JWalks and the Holocaust Memorial Center. February 22 - April 14 in Metro Detroit. Exhibit info here.

Julian Voloj is one of the exhibit organizers.

Julian Voloj
Detroit Revisited
Suite of 9 Photographs 

Every year thousands of Americans visit Europe, searching for remnants of a once-thriving Jewish culture. Countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic, though their Jewish communities have nearly vanished, have become places of pilgrimage for Jewish heritage tourists. In the United States, however, while Jewish culture thrives American Jewish heritage is usually forgotten.

Temple Adas Israel shows work of Julian Voloj.

Former Jacob Schiff Jewish Center, Bronx;
today a department store.

Forgotten Heritage: Uncovering New York’s Hidden Jewish Past, an exhibition of work by German born photographer/writer Julian Voloj, will be on display at Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor from March 6th to April 13. 

The show depicts the rediscovery of nearly forgotten bits of Jewish Heritage in once vibrant Jewish communities.  Mr. Voloj, who now lives in New York,  is dedicated to preserving Jewish history and culture in New York City. 
Reception for the artist Sunday March 11th from 3-5 PM. The art, which will be for sale, will be on view before and after worship services on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings - and by appointment by calling the Temple, 631-725-0904. 

Silent Witnesses: Julian Voloj

The Jewish Art Salon is a proud collaborator in the exhibit Silent Witnesses: Migration stories through Synagogues Transformed, Rebuilt, or Left Behind.


The story of Detroit is the inspiration for this artists project and exhibition on how synagogues, as community institutions, stand as witness to the social upheavals of our time.


Conceived and sponsored by Cynthia Beth Rubin of the Cultural Heritage Artists Project, Julian Voloj of JWalks: Retracing Jewish Heritage and Yona Verwer of the Jewish Art Salon, this exhibition was initiated as a team effort and coordinated by participating artists. It will take place February and March 2012 at The Holocaust Memorial Center, Zekelman Family Campus in Farmington Hills, Metro Detroit, Michigan. More info on the exhibit here.


We will focus on several artists in the exhibit, starting with Julian Voloj. His project for this exhibit is titled: Forgotten Heritage - Uncovering Detroit’s Hidden Jewish Past.

Warriors/Peacemakers - Julian Voloj & Claudia Ahlering

Warriors/Peacemakers: Activists and Artists Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Hoe Avenue Peace Meeting

December 11th from 3 to 6pm

A fascinating project and art exhibit by Julian Voloj, involving former gang leader / observant Jew Benjamin Melendez.

Bronx River Art Center (BRAC) and JWalks are excited to present Warriors/Peacemakers: Activists and Artists Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Hoe Avenue Peace Meeting as part of our Shifting Communities Roundtable Event Series. 
305 East 140th St. #1A, Bronx, NY 10454.

Julian Voloj and his Jewish New Yorkers

Daniel Sieradski

A sampling of Julian Voloj's photographs of Jewish New York is currently on view at "If you live in New York..." at the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy's Visitor Center.

The Jewish Art Salon asked Voloj two questions.

Q 1: Your work explores the diversity of New York's Jewish community. What is the background / impetus of this project?

Voloj: The comedian Lenny Bruce once said that "if you live in New York, you're Jewish". The title of the show uses part of the quote. If you know the quote, you will complete the sentence, if you don't... well... you will find out once you see the show.
The photographs explore how present Judaism is in New York City, and how diverse at the same time. I show photographs of African Americans celebrating Rosh Hashana at the East River, Chabad emissaries from all over the world gathering in Brooklyn, Russian World War II veterans in Brighton Beach, you name it. All these photographs are very different, but they are connected through the connection to Judaism.

“If you live in New York…” Photographs by Julian Voloj

Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy – Kling & Niman Family Visitor Center at 400 Grand Street, New York, NY 10002. 
Opening of the exhibition will take place on October 30, 1-3pm during the Art & Architecture Fest, organized by the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy.

Comedian Lenny Bruce once stated that “if you live in New York… you are Jewish.” Using this reference in the title of his latest exhibition, photographer Julian Voloj explores the diversity of New York’s Jewish communities.

From Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn and their struggle between tradition and modernity, to African Americans who adopted Jewish rituals to cope with the legacy of slavery, Voloj’s photographs illustrate the wide scope of Judaism in New York City.