LONDON, Ont. — More than 60 artists from across Canada will gather in London, Ont., this week for Congregation Or Shalom’s “Ceremonial Objects for the Jewish Home II.”
Glass menorah by Daniel Castillo
The juried show and sale is a tribute to the late Esther Wolf and Muriel Ginsberg, who organized London’s first Judaica exhibition in 1980.
“I remember the first show, and I’ve been thinking about revisiting it for a long time,” says “Ceremonial Objects” chair Alice Negus, who proposed the event in early 2008.
Glass Star of David by Daniel Castillo
The four-day exhibition has attracted artists and artisans working in a variety of media, including fibre, calligraphy, fine arts, glass, metal, mixed media, printmaking, sculpture, pottery and ceramics. A travelling display of mezzuzot from the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Textiles, Toronto, and ceremonial items belonging to Or Shalom synagogue are also on display.
Several artists who took part 30 years ago were quick to sign up this time around, Negus says, but participants were selected based on their artistic merit, not on their Jewish roots. “We were looking for any artist willing to try to create Judaica,” she says.
Columbian-born glassmaker Daniel Castillo was happy to take up the challenge.
The master craftsman, who fled his homeland in 2006, is no stranger to London’s Jewish community. Castillo won a commission to create a stained-glass Holocaust memorial window for the city’s Jewish community centre last year.
“When I met the Jewish community, it was a big blessing for me, so I wanted to be part of this show,” he says. “I learned a lot about the Jewish faith through my research [for the Holocaust memorial project],” says Castillo.
As an artist who has always incorporated symbolism into his work, Castillo found the menorah especially meaningful. “For me, it is one of the most beautiful symbols I have seen in my life,” he says. He created a glass menorah and Star of David especially for the “Ceremonial Objects” show.
Victor Golverk is another new Canadian whose work is on display at Or Shalom. Born in Uzbekistan in 1966, Golverk made aliyah in 1990 before moving to London eight months ago.
A member of the Israel Artists’ Professional Association, Golverk is showing a series of black and white paintings of chassidic life, created in his Jerusalem studio. “It’s interesting for me to show these pictures to the Jewish community in London,” he says.
Textile artist Marilyn Levy is also looking forward to sharing her work with a new audience. Levy creates one-of-a-kind tallitot, mezzuzot, chupahs, challah covers, Torah mantles and kippot out of natural fabrics such as silk, linen and cotton.
The Hamilton-based artist made her first tallit for personal use in 1990. Today she accepts commissions from people around the world. “You find out what they want,” Levy says. “Sometimes you start with a colour, sometimes with a theme.”
Many clients use verses from the Torah or siddur as their inspiration.
“I will not [embroider] the tallit blessing on the collar,” says Levy. Anybody who wants a custom-made tallis already knows that blessing by heart, she says. “When you wrap that prayer shawl around you, whether you are male or female, it should be meaningful and personalized.”
Levy considers her creations “hiddur mitzvah” – something that enhances the mitzvah. “Even an ordinary, everyday mitzvah such as washing the hands becomes more special when one dries one’s hands on a special hand-embroidered towel,” she says.
Gala opening reception for the Muriel Ginsberg & Esther Wolf Memorial Ceremonial Objects for the Jewish Home Show and Sale takes place Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. Tickets $18. Oct. 23, 12-4 p.m.; Oct. 24, 7-11 p.m.; Oct. 25, 12- 4 pm. Admission $5. For more information, visit www.orshalomjudaica.ca.
