i am. an immigrant / We Have Always Been Sanctified

Sunday June 21, 1pm EST, 20:00 Israel time, 10am PST

DORIT JORDAN DOTAN presents “i am. an immigrant”, a visit of her intercontinental curatorial project in Berlin. 

Demographic changes affect global and local politics, economies, urban affairs and day-to-day life.

For some of those who were lucky to be born in a stable, strong, democratic country, it is hard to accept those changes. It creates fear of job loss and the changing of familiar local culture.  Immigrants or refugees face changes adapting to social behavior codes. History forewarns what can happen when hate, fear and a sense of threat grows among and between people coming from different cultures, who now share space.  Making peace within oneself – coexisting with oneself and others – can be achieved in many ways. 

THEA MOERMAN presents “We Have Always Been Sanctified: Lesbian Ritual Objects”. 

This artist talk with Dorothea Moerman, a young non-denominational Jewish lesbian artist, is about a body of work she has been developing for the past three years exploring sexual and religious objects, ritual, and devotion. Her work incorporates a wide array of mediums, including sculpture, poetry, photography, letterpress printing, and bookbinding. Integrating recontextualized ritual and apotropaic objects, her body, leather and paper, silicone and cloth, Moerman reveals a vulnerable expression of her own lived experiences, and spiritual practices.    

DORIT JORDAN DOTAN

The exhibition was part of Dorit Jordan Dotan’s artist residency at The Institut für Alles Mögliche, Berlin. The exhibition opened on March 5 and closed as Covid-19 struck.

This group exhibition was a safe place to express and explore these clashes of culture.

Participating USA, EU, Canada and Israel Artists (Jewish Art Salon members in bold):

Heddy Abramowitz / Dan Allon / Bruce Barber / Aileen Bassis / Betty Butler / Dorit Jordan Dotan / Chico Feinstein / Aviv Maoz Haggiag / Alan Hobscheid / Ellen Holtzblatt / Judith Joseph / Katarzyna Kozera / Bert Menco / Miri Mor / Marc Perlish / Leah Raab / Marleene Rubenstein / Phillip Schwartz / Yona Verwer / Dan Weinberg / Billha Zussman 

DOROTHEA MOERMAN

Moerman is especially interested in dissolving the dichotomies between the holy and the profane and between public and private. She believes that Judaism is an embodied religion, one that prioritizes behavior over belief. Being an observant Jew is an amalgamation of ritualized actions and objects: movements or gestures, things to wear or wrap oneself in, substances to be ingested, and scents to be smelled. Fascinated by the sensuality of these practices, Moerman replicates these actions by creating and often physically engaging with hybrid religious/sexual ritual objects. When making these works, she teaches herself traditional Jewish craft, and works slowly and with intention to activate the holy potentiality of the objects. 

BIOS

Dorit Jordan Dotan’s works express her social/political views, and calls attention to cultural issues. Dotan has exhibited internationally. In recent years she exhibited at The Dr. Bernard Heller Museum NYC, in a continuing process of creating contemporary Jewish art.

Dorothea Moerman is a Jewish femme dyke born and raised in New York, and currently residing in Oakland, California. Dorothea’s work examines Jewish ritual objects, the overlap of sexuality and spirituality, and cultural memory using traditional crafts and techniques such as natural dyeing, letterpress printing, and bookbinding. 

This virtual art studio visit is produced by the Jewish Art Salon, and co-sponsored by JADA Art.