1999, Raku fired terracotta and Polymethyl methacrylate, cm 120x120x4, National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah – MEIS, Ferrara.
This project originates from the elaboration of the event called Shoah that has continued throughout the years to generate visions and ideas in my conscience as a Jewish artist, woman, daughter and mother. The sculpture is entitled “May the memory of what was merge with the matter that embraces our thought”. As the title suggests, indeed imposes, it is an invitation not to forget, inspired by the famous words of Primo Levi:
“…Consider that this has been:
I commend these words to you.
Engrave them on your hearts
When you are in your house,
When you walk on your way,
When you go to bed,
When you rise.
Repeat them to your children…”
I intended to visualize the moral imperative “do not forget” so that what happened may never again be repeated anywhere in the world. Let the memory of the Shoah combine, therefore, with our brain matter; let us bind it inextricably to our memory, to our neurons, as if we ourselves had experienced it in first person, we, who belong to the generations born after the end of the war and to all the future generations.
The line is intended as a visual recollection of the singleness of the Nazi extermination, a meticulous organization that provided an orderly and efficient modality for the annihilation of human nature. A Hebrew text in relief creates the texture of the human figures. This text, which is taken from the prayers recited on the day of Yom Kippur, is a request to the Lord for a life that is serene, peaceful and safe for the Jewish people.