Centrum im. Ludwika, Poland, February 15, 2022
This is translated from the original article in Polish - you can read the original article here.
Esther Nisenthal Krinitz and her younger sister Mania survived the Holocaust as the only one from the whole family and one of the few inhabitants of Mniszek - a village located in the Lublin Province. She was hiding, pretending to be a Polish Catholic, a farmer's daughter. In 1946, she found refuge in a displaced persons camp in Ziegenhain, Germany, where she met her future husband. Three years later, she moved to New York with her family.
In 1977, at the age of 50, Esther Nisenthal Krinitz picked up a fabric and decided to use it to tell her relatives about her war fate. Being a seamstress, but without an artistic education, using various types of fabric, needle and thread, she created a series of 36 collages, characterized by vivid colors, attention to detail and realism typical of folk art. - The precisely sewn words underneath the pictures make up a moving story about survival. Although her paintings seem nice and pleasant at first glance, almost joyful, a closer analysis of them reveals a striking contrast between the idyllic landscapes and the violence, terror and betrayal that fill them, the exhibition organizers say.
Although her works are now regularly exhibited in museums and galleries in the United States, Krinitz created them only to convey her memories to loved ones. - I never planned or even dreamed that my paintings would be exhibited one day. I created them for my children, for my daughters - Esther said before the premiere exhibition.
In 1999, Esther came to Poland to show her daughters and grandchildren all the places they knew only from her paintings. She died in 2001 at the age of 74.
Made available at the Center for them. Ludwik Zamenhof's version of the exhibition is an illustrated story about the fate of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz. The presented pictures are reproductions of works that have been exhibited in the original version only in the United States so far.
Opening of the exhibition on Friday (February 18) at 6 p.m.
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Centrum im. Ludwika Zamenhofa, ul. Warszawska 19
The exhibition is open until April 24, 2022, from Tuesday to Sunday from 10: 00-17: 00.Ticket: PLN 5, vernissage and Sundays - free