The Destruction of Jewish Art in the USSR

November 1, 2022 Cambridge Free
(Photo: Bepsimage/iStock)
(Photo: Bepsimage/iStock)

For half a century, the Soviet authorities sought to marginalize and eliminate Jewish art and culture, brutally forcing artists into the rigid confines of Socialist Realism. Discussion of the Holocaust, with few notable exceptions, was not allowed. Those who resisted perished—their work was destroyed or hidden away in closed archives. Despite the odds, Jewish art not only persisted but continued to flourish. Kultur-Lige, a Jewish movement that originated in Kyiv in 1918, expanded to become an international phenomenon in the 1920s. Its artists created a radically new avant-garde representing secular Jewish culture. The experiment was short-lived. Kultur-Lige closed in 1930. In 1932, Joseph Stalin banned independent artistic groups, and soon thereafter, countless Jews perished during the Great Terror and the Holocaust.

This edition of the Sakharov Seminar on Human Rights discusses attempts after 1945 by a new generation of artists to come to terms with the extreme repression of Jewish culture and Jewish life under Soviet and Nazi rule.

The event speaker will be independent writer Yelena Lembersky, and the moderator will be Mark Kramer, director of the Cold War Studies Project. The talk is open to the public. It will take place in room S354.

+ More... - Less...
Fact Sheet
When
Tuesday, November 1, 2022, 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm
Where
CGIS South
1730 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA 02138
Price
Free

CJP provides the above links concerning third-party events for your convenience only. CJP has no control over the content of the linked-to websites or events they describe, and accepts no responsibility for the websites, including any advertising or products or services on or available from such sites, or for any loss or damage that may arise from your attending, or registering to attend, the described events. If you decide to access any of the third-party websites linked to below, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such websites and event attendance. CJP is not responsible or liable to you or any third party for the content or accuracy of any materials provided by any third parties. All statements and/or opinions expressed in the linked-to materials or at the described events, and all commentary, articles and other content provided at the third-party websites or at the events, are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the persons or entities operating the linked-to websites and events. The inclusion of any link on this website does not imply that CJP endorses the described event, or the linked-to website or its operator. MORE

More In...

More At...