In this exhibition we focused on creating an atmosphere of a classroom while presenting 13 stories on green chalkboards. The drawings, songs, diaries and games tip us off that the children have left for a short while and will be right back. The challenge we took on was to demonstrate to the viewers that the missing children had rich lives, we therefore wanted to show the daily experiences behind the statistics.
We created a colorful and childish space: warm and exhilarating so the viewer will sense the extent of the loss. The exhibits on the boards are made of a magnet sheet – apparently, an everyday object that pertains to a family and a home in this day and age. Three layers are formed in the space: the board becomes a platform to a world of innocence and optimism; the magnets connect the viewer to experiences of playing and the historical panel that comes up reminds us that reality surpasses imagination.
Before heading out to New York to set up the exhibition, we held a pre-opening event at the studio with the staff and management team of Yad Vashem and with a number of survivors, whose stories are presented in the exhibition, and their families.
"A Monument of Good Deeds" – Dreams and Hopes of Children During the Holocaust.
UN building, New York// curator: Yehudit Inbar/ Yad Vashem/ 2012
Photography: Avishai Finkelstein