I haven't got the time or money to be setting sights on large adventures this summer, yet I want to explore a nearby European city with plenty of culture.
Berlin was a fabulous place to explore. A city of two sides, a city built on destructive memorials and history and a city scattered with modern architecture and artwork.
As my interest grew deeper into the city's history and background, my interests soon lay in the Jewish memorial and street art. I felt a strong connection to the Jewish centre of town, it felt like it still owned a lot of depth and pride in itself, throughout all its hardship and suffering.
I have always found religious practise interesting, the way rituals are created, adored and decorated with such care and luxury. The Jewish ornaments and decorations used in their festivities held beautiful embroidery, pattern, detail and memory which I felt truly inspired by to start my first project against.
The curation of the jewish museum was cleverly beautiful, located in the formerly Jewish quarter of the city, the museum starts with a basement walkway that recreated the feeling of trapped, questionable journeys of a 1940s German Jew.
I came to find that a lot of Jews migrated to parts of the UK such as London and Manchester, where there are still strong Jewish communities, this felt all the more close to home. Many began lives in the cotton industry and as evident here, many of the women and men took pride in wearing attire adored with folk and religious embroidery with luxurious embellishments. Some of the bracelets that were used in religious festivals held such care in their detail and interest I wanted to create a pattern from my images that held a similar virtue and pride as their artwork and textiles did.
At the Memorial park for the Holocaust I found this to be one of the places I wanted to focus my print around the most. Not only was it a beautiful architectural sight, but the feeling of walking through the deepening 'gravestone' like memorials was a empathising experience and an awareness of how the world chooses to rebel in its own interest. Keeping on the theme of rebellion, I noticed a lot of graffiti and street art on the berlin wall, mainly for political protest, yet their layers of aggressive paint created a beautiful masterpieces I wanted to juxtapose with the calm tranquility of my Holocaust images. When I return home, I wish to play around with the use of these images more.
The curation of the jewish museum was cleverly beautiful, located in the formerly Jewish quarter of the city, the museum starts with a basement walkway that recreated the feeling of trapped, questionable journeys of a 1940s German Jew.
I came to find that a lot of Jews migrated to parts of the UK such as London and Manchester, where there are still strong Jewish communities, this felt all the more close to home. Many began lives in the cotton industry and as evident here, many of the women and men took pride in wearing attire adored with folk and religious embroidery with luxurious embellishments. Some of the bracelets that were used in religious festivals held such care in their detail and interest I wanted to create a pattern from my images that held a similar virtue and pride as their artwork and textiles did.
At the Memorial park for the Holocaust I found this to be one of the places I wanted to focus my print around the most. Not only was it a beautiful architectural sight, but the feeling of walking through the deepening 'gravestone' like memorials was a empathising experience and an awareness of how the world chooses to rebel in its own interest. Keeping on the theme of rebellion, I noticed a lot of graffiti and street art on the berlin wall, mainly for political protest, yet their layers of aggressive paint created a beautiful masterpieces I wanted to juxtapose with the calm tranquility of my Holocaust images. When I return home, I wish to play around with the use of these images more.
Entering the museum under ground gave a conscious start to the understanding
Man preparing for passover wearing an embroidered shirt, signature of his religious background
Berlin Wall street art, contributions of thousands, words of many
Berlin's infamous use of signage for power, heavily similar to Givenchy
Images from the Holocaust memorial
Textile work of Jewish women in preparation for Bah-mitzvahs
It was a trip I will not forget soon, I hope to be able to explore another cultural city next summer. I find that visiting these places hold key influence for my work over any current 'trend' or designer, The spirit of my work hold dear to juxtaposed ideas, cultural equality and the creation of political outlawing. My aim is always to create something that challenges ideas once sent in stone to be considered 'normal' and after all difference is unique, beautiful and needs to be further explored.
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