NEWSLETTER

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“Young Jewish Woman visiting Germany would like to have a conversation about nothing in particular with anybody reading this”. With this terse ad published in 2004-2005 in several German dailies and weeklies, began the project by the Israeli artist Sharone Lifschitz on the complex issue of relations between Germans and Jews. The announcement generated more than 180 responses. Through exchanges of emails and meetings, the artist interacted with people ranging from 18 to 65, to discuss everyday life and their individual behavior in the face of German history and Jewish culture. The conversations were frank, open and spontaneous, which helped establish trust between the artist and her subjects, and created a degree of confidentiality.
The project was divided into three main phases. From December 2006 to May 2007, Sharone Lifschitz put posters in the streets and subways, with extracts from the first e-mails sent or received. In a second phase, in February 2007, the artist included statements by those interviewed. Finally for the opening of the Jewish Museum in Munich in March 2007, texts were written on the glass facade of the building. These were fragments of conversations collected throughout the project on the central theme of the history of relations between Jews and Germans. These texts were augmented, then displayed in public places in the city center, including excerpts from her daily conversations touching on topics such as family, travel, and personal habits.
These texts are without value judgment, but are anonymous excerpts that do not necessarily form a story. They are meant to invite passersby to reflect and continue the dialogue.

http://www.speaking-germany.de