Mazel tov to the international artists chosen as the 2024 ShUM Cities Artists in Residence! Three very diverse projects dealing with history, heritage, symbolism, and art.
They are the the visual artist Bence Illyes from Hungary (working with Judit Borsi), the musician Yotam Schlezinger from Israel, and the video artist Janet Grau from the USA.
More than 100 applicants from around the world responded to the call for proposals, the announcement said.
The ShUM Cities project linking the important medieval Jewish heritage of the German cities of Worms, Speyer, and Mainz, was included in 2021 on UNESCO’s roster of World Heritage.
The international artist-in-residence program, supported by the state and the three cities, was launched in 2021. This year’s program is the second edition, after a break. Open to all artistic fields, th4e competition offers up to three grants for the realization of an artistic project dealing with the history of the ShUM communities and their religious, cultural and architectural heritage. Projects need to present an artistic approach to the ShUM heritage, “taking into account the history and present of Judaism and its views.”
Each chosen artist will spend six weeks in one of the three ShUM cities in August and September 2024. During their stay, the ShUM artist fellows will also be expected to allow interested visitors an insight into their work and concepts in a suitable form, e.g., in workshop discussions. Young people and schools will also be invited, and an exchange of ideas with local artists and cultural institutions is also desirable.
BENCE ILLYES from Hungary, working with the graphic designer Judit Borsi, will deal with the visual symbols of SchUM and process them in linocuts and in an electronic publication, or Zine.
They will be resident in Speyer, whose Jewish heritage includes a monumental medieval mikvah.
“With their wonderful artistic project, the two artists Illyés Bence and Judit Borsi dedicate themselves to the rich Jewish heritage in the ShUM sites and especially in our city,” Speyer Mayor Stefanie Seiler said.
“The great relevance of Jewish symbols for today is reflected here in a very special way. Symbols of ShUM is a tribute to the enduring legacy of Jewish life in the ShUM cities and invites the viewer to explore these ancient symbols on their own and learn from them, thereby building a bridge from the past to the Present.”
The project is an outgrowth of a Zine project based on the carved decoration of abandoned Jewish cemeteries in Hungary, which we posted about last year.
JANET GRAU, an American who lives in Germany, is resident in Worms. She works in performances and with photography, video, and installations, sometimes integrating drawings, texts and objects.
As her project, she will create an artistic video in Worms based on the memorial speech by Rabbi Eleazar ben Judah of Worms for his wife Dulcea, who was murdered with her daughters in a pogrom in 1196. In exchange with interested parties, the situation of women in the Middle Ages and today will also be discussed.
YOTAM SCHLEZINGER was born in Tel Aviv in 1982, studied music and acoustics in Chicago and Essen and works as a musician, composer and sound designer, primarily in the theater sector. He also creates sound installations. He will be resident in Mainz. For his project he intends to create a sound installation at a historical location in one of the SchUM cities based on historical recordings of cantors’ songs and using tape loops.
1 comment on “Germany: Mazel tov to the international artists chosen as the 2024 ShUM Cities Artists in Residence — three very diverse projects dealing with history, heritage, symbolism, and art”
When is the next round?