DATE: November 19, 2007

Sacred Space: Theme of New Photography Exhibition

On Wednesday, December 5, 2007, The Emet Gallery will feature Makom: Seeking Sacred Space, featuring the work of photographers David Kaufman and David Cowles.

Keeping with The Emet Gallery's theme for this year, "this exhibition will inspire visitors to explore sacred spaces through photographs of Jewish sites both in Montreal and North Africa," says Curator Evelyn Tauben. "Offering a very poignant and tangible impression of how these places functioned, the more than thirty photographs reveal that sacred space is often shifting, mutable, and transient if it is not preserved."

Photographs by Toronto-based David Kaufman reveal the intriguing history of buildings in his native Montreal that were used as synagogues by Jewish immigrants in the early twentieth century. While only two remain synagogues today, signs of their former lives can be traced through the images.

Montreal photographer and historian David Cowles has spent ten years seeking out Jewish communities of North Africa, resulting in detailed documentation of the places that shaped Jewish life in Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia. His photographs point to the enduring quality not only of these physical structures but to their place in the hearts of the Jews and the imaginations of the surrounding local population.

The Emet Gallery, exploring universal themes presented through "the Jewish lens," aims to build bridges across communities through art and dialogue. Many works in the exhibition offer an ideal departure point for such discussions. Kaufman's photographs document the transformation of early synagogues into churches or, in the case of Beth Hamedrash Chevra Shaas on Saint Urban Street, a Portuguese Association. In Cowles' Synagogue in Arasan (1993), surrounding a central column embellished with Hebrew text, piles of hay are also clearly visible. A Muslim in the village maintains this small synagogue of the past because he believes it brings him luck. As communities shift, so too do their sacred spaces. Cowles states, "The real structures of Jewish communities are not constructions of stone, but rather an architecture of the soul and mind." After observing Montreal's early synagogues up-close through the lens of his camera, Kaufman concurs that "sacred space is entirely a social construct."

In The Emet Gallery en haut, the exhibition Shout in the Ears of Jerusalem continues as part of Makom: Seeking Sacred Space, presenting original artwork and photo-documentation of outdoor art installations in a Jerusalem field created by artist Benny Ferdman of Los Angeles.

Based at Congregation Dorshei Emet, The Emet Gallery engages the community with issues of spirituality, ethics and culture through the photography and multimedia art of accomplished local and international artists, and a wide array of public programs. Held at Dorshei Emet, all events are open to the public.

Makom: Seeking Sacred Space December 5, 2007 - May 18, 2008
Vernissage: Wednesday, December 5, 2007; 5:30pm - 7:00pm

Gallery Hours: Tuesdays 3pm - 8pm; Second Sundays 1pm - 5pm (second Sunday of every month)
Additional Hours: During Shabbat or holiday services, public programs, or by appointment

Emet Gallery . 18 Cleve Road . Hampstead . info@emetgallery.org . www.emetgallery.org