The Venice Center For International Jewish Studies Inc

1. RESIDENCIES AND SEMINARS IN THE VENICE GHETTO AS OPPORTUNITIES TO STIMULATE AND DISSEMINATE CREATIVE ENDEAVORS AND SCHOLARLY RESEARCH. A. LIVING UNDER WATER: A JEWISH EXPLORATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE.IN 2018, SIX INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS WERE INVITED TO VENICE TO INITIATE CREATIVE RESPONSES TO THE CHALLENGES OF CLIMATE CHANGE ROOTED IN JEWISH CULTURE AND TRADITION. AS WELL, THEY WERE ASKED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT VENICE IS OFTEN SEEN AS THE CANARY IN THE COAL MINE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE. THEY WERE ALSO CHALLENGED TO DEVELOP AN ELECTRONIC MEANS TO COMMUNICATE THEIR PRODUCTION. THE ARTISTIC ELEMENTS WERE CREATED DURING THE VENICE RESIDENCYTHE THREE-WEEK RESIDENCY WAS LED BY ISRAELI ARTIST ANDI ARNOWITZ. THE GRAPHIC ART WAS CREATED AT THE SCUOLA INTERNAZIONALE DI GRAFICA, VENICE. THE FIRST OUTCOME WAS THE CREATION AND VIRTUAL PUBLICATION, LIVING UNDER WATER: A JEWISH EXPLORATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE, A 54-PAGE COLOR ZINE, PRINT AND ELECTRONIC. HTTP://WWW.LIVINGUNDERWATER.ORG/. WITH ARNOWITZ AS CURATOR, AN EXHIBITION OF THE PRINTS WAS INCLUDED IN THE JERUSALEM BIENNALE, OCTOBER 10 TO NOVEMBER 28, 2019. SEARCH FOR ADDITIONAL MUSEUM VENUES HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY THE PANDEMIC. FUNDS FOR EXHIBITIONS WERE RAISED IN PREVIOUS YEARS; FUNDS EXPENDED DURING FY2019-20 WERE FOR THE JERUSALEM EXHIBITION. DURING THE COVID 2019 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN, PROJECT DIRECTOR ANDI ARNOWITZ CHALLENGED THESE SAME ARTISTS TO CREATE WORK, VIRTUALLY, RESPONDING TO THE MULTILAYER THEMES OF CLIMATE CHANGE, VENICE, JUDAISM AND COVID19. THE PROJECT IS CALLED LIVING UNDER WATER AND IN ISOLATION. EACH ARTISTS WORK WAS TO BE A PERSONAL VIEW OF THESE CONCERNS, AND HOW THEY COULD BE LINKED TOGETHER. ARNOWITZ CREATED A HIGH-RESOLUTION DIGITAL COLLAGE SHEET AND FORWARDED THE LINK TO EACH ARTIST. THESE INCLUDED IMAGES OF THE 2019 AQUA ALTA AND ITS FLOODING IN THE VENICE GHETTO, THE CONTROVERSIAL MOSE FLOOD CONTROL BARRIERS IN THE VENETIAN LAGOON, FAMOUS VENETIAN GLASS, AN ILLUSTRATION FROM THE 1609 VENETIAN HAGGADAH, AND OTHER VENETIAN ELEMENTS. EACH ARTIST THEN CREATED A VIRTUAL PIECE THAT UTILIZED SOME OF THE PIECES ON THE SHEET. ARTISTS WERE NOT TO ENLARGE OR REDUCE THE IMAGES; THEY COULD CUT UP, COLLAGE OVER, PAINT OVER, CUT OUT, FOLD OR MANIPULATE THE PIECES HOWEVER EACH ARTIST WISHED, BUT EACH WAS TO USE SOME OR ALL OF THE PIECES IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. OTHER RELEVANT ELEMENTS COULD BE ADDED. THE REPEATED ELEMENTS IN THE COLLAGE SHEET, ARNOWITZ BELIEVED, WOULD CREATE THE THREAD THAT WOULD LINK ONE ARTISTS WORK TO THE NEXT. AS ALL OF THE WORK IS COMPLETED, PLANS FOR A VIRTUAL EXHIBIT WILL BE LAUNCHED.GRANT IN FY2020/2021 - $1,800B. GHETTO SONGS: AN EXPLORATION OF GHETTO MUSICAL EXPERIENCE IN VENICE AND OTHER COUNTRIES. PROJECT OUTCOME FEATURES A CD AND RELATED PAMPHLET.IN 2015, FRANK LONDON, COMPOSER, MUSICIAN, AND TRUMPETER (PERHAPS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS KLEZMER MUSIC AND DIRECTION OF THE KLEZMATICS) WAS INVITED FOR A RESIDENCY BY BEIT VENEZIA AND THE VCIJS. HIS CHARGE WAS TO ELABORATE CREATIVELY ON THE JEWISH VENETIAN MUSICAL HERITAGE. HIS FIRST PROJECT, ON THE OCCASION OF THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VENETIAN GHETTO, WAS TO COMPOSE THE MUSIC FOR THE FIRST HISTORICAL STAGING OF SHAKESPEARE'S THE MERCHANT OF VENICE IN ITS ORIGINAL SETTING, THE VENICE GHETTO. THE PROJECT CONTINUED IN 2019 WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF GHETTO SONGS, WITH ORIGINAL AND REIMAGINED MUSIC, SHOWCASING THE MANY VOICES OF WORLD GHETTOS. LONDON DISCOVERED THAT THERE WERE MANY MUSICAL RESPONSES OVER THE YEARS TO THE GHETTO EXPERIENCE. HE THEN GATHERED INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS TO CREATE THIS MUSICAL JOURNEY THAT MOVES THROUGH SPACE AND TIME, INTERTWINING SOUNDS, VOICES, AND LANGUAGES INSPIRED BY THE JEWISH GHETTO OF VENICE. THE PREMIER CONCERT OF GHETTO SONGS TOOK PLACE IN 2019 AT THE 2,000-SEAT ELBPHILHARMONIE HALL IN HAMBURG; A PORTION OF THE REPERTOIRE HAD BEEN PERFORMED IN VENICE DURING PASSOVER EARLIER THAT YEAR. WITH ADDITIONAL FUNDING FROM PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS IN VENICE, LONDON CREATED AND PRODUCED (MOSTLY VIA ZOOM A CD OF THE WORK AND WROTE THE ACCOMPANYING PAMPHLET. THE LAUNCH WAS MAY 7, 2021 VIA ZOOM. HTTPS://FB.WATCH/7UMBEW_QIV/THE PROFESSIONAL RECORDING WAS THE BEST WAY TO GUARANTEE THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS REPERTOIRE THAT BRINGS TOGETHER THIS MUSIC INSPIRED BY THE VENICE GHETTO WITH COMPOSITIONS LINKED TO OTHER GHETTOS WORLDWIDE. THIS INVESTMENT IS REWARDED BY THE QUALITY OF THE MUSICIANS INVOLVED AND THE COMMITMENT TO THE HIGHEST TECHNICAL STANDARDS. PRODUCED BY FELMAY, THE PROJECT HAS BEEN ENDORSED BY MEIS (NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ITALIAN JUDAISM AND THE SHOAH IN FERRARA), PROMISING CIRCULATION AND MARKETING THOUGH NETWORKS OF JEWISH HERITAGE ORGANIZATIONS AND MUSEUMS AS WELL AS THOUGH JEWISH AND WORLD MUSIC NETWORKS IN THE U.S.GRANT IN FY 2020/2021 - $6,0002. EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL PROGRAMS FOR SCHOLARS AND STUDENTS, AND JOINTLY ALSO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. DESCRIBED BELOW IS THE MOST RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENT. SINCE THE ONSET OF THE PANDEMIC, THERE HAVE BEEN NO ON-SITE PROGRAMS IN VENICE SUPPORTED BY VCIJS. THE LIBRARY OF MEMORY : AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE,THIS EVENT TOOK PLACE IN VENICE, WITH ACTIVITIES IN THE VENICE GHETTO AND AT THE 16 CENTURY ATENEO VENETO. FUNDS WERE RAISED DURING FY2018-19; EXPENDITURES WERE COMPLETED INFY 2019/2020. THE CONFERENCE TOOK PLACE SEPTEMBER 18, 19, 20, AND 2019. IT BROUGHT TOGETHER 25 INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS AND ABOUT 200 LOCAL, STUDENT, AND TOURIST PARTICIPANTS. THE CONFERENCE PAPERS HIGHLIGHTED HOW CERTAIN MODERN SENSIBILITIES ARE LINKED TO THE SOCIAL CONDITIONS AND CULTURAL OUTPUT OF THE 16TH CENTURY VENICE GHETTO. MANY THOUSANDS VISITED THE RELATED ART EXHIBITION, PSALM: THE LIBRARY OF EXILE, CREATED BY EDMUND DE WAAL, BRITISH CERAMICIST AND WRITER, ALSO WELL-KNOWN FOR HIS BOOK , THE HARE WITH AMBER EYES. THE PROJECT WAS ADMINISTERED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF VENICE, CA FOSCARI, AND BY BEIT VENEZIA, AN ITALIAN NON-PROFIT FOUNDATION. 3. PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO ENGAGE THE LOCAL GENERAL AND JEWISH COMMUNITY AND/OR TO DEEPEN EXPERIENCES FOR TOURISTS.DESCRIBED BELOW IS THE MOST RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENT. SINCE THE ONSET OF THE PANDEMIC, THERE HAVE BEEN NO ON-SITE PROGRAMS IN VENICE SUPPORTED BY VCIJS. AN ADAPTATION OF SHAKESPEARES THE MERCHANT OF VENICE AS THE MERCHANT IN VENICE, WAS PERFORMED IN THE CENTRAL SQUARE OF THE VENICE GHETTO, JULY 6 TO AUGUST 1, 2016. IT WAS A MAJOR VENETIAN CITY-WIDE COLLABORATIVE PROJECT MARKING THE VENICE GHETTO AT 500. THE PRODUCTION WAS WITH COLOMBARI, A THEATER COMPANY BASED IN NEW YORK CITY. IT THEN TOURED TO A NORTHERN ITALIAN PRISON AND, IN THE U.S., TO MONTCLAIR UNIVERSITY, A FESTIVAL AT YALE UNIVERSITY, AND AT DARTMOUTH COLLEGE. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THIS OFTEN-CONSIDERED CONTROVERSIAL SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY WAS EVER PRODUCED IN THE GHETTO, ITS FICTIONAL SETTING. THE PRODUCTION IN VENICE DREW LARGE LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND TOURIST AUDIENCES AND MAJOR PREVIEWS AND REVIEWS APPEARED INTERNATIONALLY. THERE WAS ALSO A MOCK TRIAL OF SHYLOCK WITH JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINZBURG PRESIDING. HTTPS://WWW.COLOMBARI.ORG/MERCHANT-OF-VENICE