The Jewish History Museum and Holocaust History Center is hosting “Clamor en el Desierto/Clamor in the Desert,” a new work from artist Mirta Kupferminc. The sukkah installation is imbued with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights presented in dozens of languages, and invite the community into active care of those rights, says Sol Davis, Ph.D., executive director of the museum.
In her artist statement about the work, Kupferminc says, in part, “The movement of people around the world does not stop stirring. Whether emigrants, exiles, expatriates, immigrants, or refugees — all are displaced from their homes, and are referenced in this sukkah. The sukkah is an unstable and temporary construction, representing the fragility of human life and at the same time a shelter for anyone who feels forlorn. The work transforms fence materials (the same material that is used to build limitation and separation) into a shelter that welcomes everyone.”
The installation is on view in the courtyard of the museum and visible from the street until spring 2021.
Clamor en el Desierto /Clamor in the Desert is a collaboration of LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture and the Jewish History Museum, made possible with the generous support of CANVAS. The work is part of a national project — Dwelling in a Time of Plagues — that makes new outdoor art possible at museum sites, with organizational support from the Council of American Jewish Museums.
