Celebrating Jewish Culture Exhibit Opens on March 3 at Fogartyville in Sarasota

Celebrating Jewish Culture seeks to showcase Jewish culture and the diversity that exists in Jewish artistic expressions. The exhibit will feature works by Nadja Marks, Ellen Goldberg Tishman, Lori Charnow, Harry Samtur, and Janet Mishner. The art exhibit will be run from March 3 – April 13, 2018 at the Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center. Opening night on Saturday, March 3 will include music and food related to Jewish culture. Tickets for the opening night celebration are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Advance tickets are available at www.fogartyville.org.

Entertainment will be provided by Bill Buchman’s Art of Jews Trio featuring Maxxine Smith on flute, Buchman on piano, and Benetsito Campoverde on Percussion. The Art of Jews Trio is one of the many iterations of Buchman’s connection to world-class musicians who can play a wide variety of musical styles. Bill’s groups have performed in concerts, nightclubs, top hotels and private parties around the US.

Betty Silberman will also be singing traditional songs. Silberman, a native Montrealer, and graduate of Boston Conservatory, has been performing Yiddish music her entire life. In addition to performing in several off-Broadway musicals, she toured with Joel Grey in “Borscht Capades”, was lead vocalist for Shirim Klezmer Orchestra, which appeared at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 1994. They performed at the Blue Note (NYC), the Smithsonian, and hundreds of concerts and venues throughout the U.S. She has also sung cabaret in Rome, Berlin and Tel-Aviv. Ms. Silberman teaches Yiddish & Jewish Culture here in Sarasota. Eleanora Lvov will also make a special appearance. Lvov has an international reputation as a piano virtuoso; she has performed widely as a soloist with major orchestras and in recitals throughout the United States and Europe.

Two additional events will be presented during the course of the exhibit:

The History of Jewish Humor – Monday, March 19, 6:30pm – FREE

Why are so many comedians Jewish? What is the background and origins of Yiddish wit and comedy? Was it a coincidence that the movie industry was founded by Jewish immigrants and that much of early “Broadway” was inhabited by performers, directors, producers, musicians, and lyricists who were Jewish? We will talk about the depth and breadth of this unique ethnic humor: from the Russian shtetl to American television; from the Wise Men of Chelm to the heyday of the Borscht Belt; from humorous interactions in the Bible to the State of Israel. You are invited to join in and laugh as you add to your repertoire and knowledge of Jewish humor. Presented by Marden Paru

A Land Twice Promised – Tuesday, March 13, 7pm, $12 adv/ $15 door

Israeli storyteller Noa Baum began a heartfelt dialogue with a Palestinian woman while living in the United States. In this one woman play, she weaves together their memories, and their mothers’ stories, to create a moving testimony that illuminates the complex and contradictory history and emotions surrounding Jerusalem, for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Noa takes us behind the rhetoric and headlines to hear the true stories of four women, 2 Israelis and 2 Palestinians. In the process, we experience the most precious ingredient for the resolution of any major conflict: mutual compassion.

Photos of artwork attached: Klezmer Joy by Janet Mishner. Times of Messiah by Nadja Marks (beulah)

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