How can graphic novels help us to communicate and understand the past? How can survivors of violence and mass atrocities work in dialogue with graphic novel artists to interpret and record their experiences? How can we share these narratives in meaningful ways? These are some of the questions that will be discussed during the ‘Visualizing […]

Drs. Franziska Zaugg and Sabine Rutar from the Yugoslav Wars Research Cluster will be chairing a panel ‘Images as bridges: Graphic novels as a means of visualizing historical experiences of violence’ on July 9, 2025. This session is a part of the 7th Swiss History Days Conference taking place at the University of Lucerne from […]

Starting on May 22, 2025, the Wiesbaden Kunsthaus will host the premiere of the ‘I will not be silent! Drawn Memories in Comics’ exhibition. Guided tour of the exhibition ‘I will not remain silent! Drawn memory in comics’ with Jakob Hoffman, video by Patrick Bäuml and Kunsthaus Wiesbaden, May 23, 2025. The exhibition, which runs […]

The ‘Landscape in Comics’ exhibition opens on May 21 in Galleria 5 in Oulu, Finland. It will be the first public presentation of Anneli Furmark’s original art from her untitled graphic novel created in collaboration with a survivor of the Srebrenica Genocide within the frame of the Yugoslav Wars Research Cluster. The exhibition focuses on […]

We are pleased to announce that our funding application to the National Holocaust Remembrance Program has been successful. From left to right: Graphic artist Miriam Libicki, Holocaust survivor Rose Lipszyc, and Research Cluster Co-lead Mark Celinscak meeting for interviews and the documentary film at Rose’s home in Toronto, Ontario in the summer 2023. Photo credit: […]

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Andrea Webb (University of British Columbia), SCVN Project Co-director, has won an Honourable Mention at the 2025 Open Scholarship Awards for creating the But I Live Educators’ Resource. Recognized by the Canadian Social Knowledge Institute and its partners, including the Implementing New Knowledge Environments project, Open Scholarship Award […]

On Sunday, May 11, 2025, the exhibition ‘But I Live. Remembering the Holocaust’ opens at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial. The exhibition, curated by Jakob Hoffmann and Barbara Yelin, features the process of co-creation and original artwork by artists Barbara Yelin, Miriam Libicki, and Gilad Seliktar produced for the graphic novel But I Live: Three Stories of Child […]

As part of our Yugoslav Wars Research Cluster, Swiss comics artist Jared Muralt has been collaborating with a Roma woman, Ružica (not her real name), retelling her life in Serbia in the 1990s where the discrimination and violence of the Yugoslav Wars shaped Ružica’s childhood. The concept drawings and character sketches for the graphic novel […]

On April 16, 2025, the Spanish RTVE (Radiotelevisión Española) published a feature on Barbara Yelin’s Spanish translation graphic novel Emmie Arbel. The Colour of Memory on its website. The article brings a brief biography of Emmie Arbel, a child survivor of the Holocaust and the narrator of Yelin’s book, as well as the story of […]

Originally published in German in 2023, Emmie Arbel. The Colour of Memory is a graphic memoir based on the personal conversations and trust-based relationship between Holocaust survivor Emmie Arbel and graphic artist Barbara Yelin. The book is now available in four language editions: German, English, French, and Spanish. It was translated into French by Thierry […]

In February 2023, graphic artist Tobi Dahmen was introduced to Syrian survivor Akram al-Saud by Dr. Uğur Ümit Üngör, the Research Cluster Co-Lead on the SSHRC Partnership Grant Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives Project. Based in The Netherlands, Tobi and Akram have been collaborating locally over two years in a series of interviews to share Akram’s unique […]

From transcribing interviews to navigating the archives, Research Assistant Jessica Botts had an instrumental role in the process of developing Two Roses, the graphic novel created by Miriam Libicki in collaboration with Holocaust survivor Rose Lipszyc.  Jessica is a U.S. Navy Veteran who has lived in and been deployed to several countries. Currently, she is […]

On November 14, SCVN Research Assistant Lucie Kotesovska met with Nora Krug, an internationally acclaimed artist and illustrator and author of several book-length visual narratives. Nora is currently an artist-in-residence at Yale’s Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, where she is conducting research of the survivors’ video and written testimonies. Her aim is to produce […]

On February 27, SCVN research assistant Ghada met with curator Jakob Hoffmann to discuss the exhibition journey of But I Live. Remembering the Holocaust. The exhibition, co-curated by Jakob Hoffmann and Barbara Yelin, features the process of co-creation and original artwork by artists Barbara Yelin, Miriam Libicki, and Gilad Seliktar, produced for the graphic novel […]

In a session titled ‘A Kind of Resistance: Illustrating Holocaust Survivor Stories’ that took place at the Pennsylvania State University on February 25, graphic artist Miriam Libicki discussed the collaborative nature of her graphic narratives. During the event, she showed a detailed deconstruction of the process of building a graphic novel out of interviews and […]

From left to right: Éléonore Goldberg, Alan Goldman, Miriam Libicki, Charlotte Schallié, Lee Gilad and Randy Lee Cutler. This year’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27) marked the 80th anniversary of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp liberation. In commemoration of this event, the Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU) hosted a talk to recognize […]

On February 24, Dr. Schallié will visit the University of Toronto to present on ‘Relational Memory, Shared Authority and Reciprocity in the Making of Barbara Yelin’s Emmie Arbel: The Colour of Memory‘. Event description:In this presentation, Charlotte Schallié discusses her arts-based collaborative research with graphic novelist Barbara Yelin and Holocaust child survivor Emmie Arbel. Their work together […]

Registration closes February 1! https://www.vhec.org/professional-development/shafran-teachers-conference/ On February 14, the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre(VHEC) is hosting the one-day ’12th Biennial Shafran Teachers’ Conference’. This year’s conference, entitled ‘Teaching the Holocaust: Multiple Perspectives and Best Practices in Holocaust Education’, focuses on providing teachers in various disciplines with new teaching resources to support Holocaust education in the classroom. […]

Gallery of ‘Examining the Holocaust’ exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Images courtesy of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. In an upcoming webinar on January 29, Co-Director Dr. Andrea Webb will be discussing ways that educators can bring Holocaust education into the classroom with respect and consideration. She is joined by Ashley […]

We are thrilled to announce the premiere trailer for ‘A Rose in Plain Sight’, a documentary short directed by Chorong Kim, set for release in 2025. This film offers an intimate glimpse into the creative and emotional journey of collaboration between Holocaust child survivor Rose Lipszyc, graphic artist Miriam Libicki, and editors Mark Celinscak and […]

In April 2024, SCVN co-director Dr. Charlotte Schallié met with Belofsky Fellow Katie Fisher for a conversation about the importance of arts-based research. Focusing on the publication ‘But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust’ this interview provides insight into the SCVN methodology which centres a collaborative approach to testimony. Charlotte and […]

We are honoured to announce that Barbara Yelin was awarded the annual Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize for children’s and young adult books by the State Office for Political Education in North Rhine-Westphalia for Emmie Arbel. The Colour of Memory. On November 29, 2024, Barbara was welcomed by Director of the Old Synagogue, Dr. Diana Matut, and the Mayor of Essen, […]

After a successful two-year run and exhibiting at four institutions, including the Stadtmuseum Erlangen, Dortmund schauraum comic + salon, Wiesbaden Kunsthaus, and Ravensbrück Memorial, the exhibition of “But I Live. Remembering the Holocaust” was hosted at it’s final location, the Erica-Fuchs-Haus Museum for Comics and the Art of Language, in Schwarzenbach a.d. Saale, Germany, from […]

On October 2 & 3, SCVN Co-Director Dr. Charlotte Schallié visited a ninth/tenth creative writing class at Victoria High School (Vic High). The students, guided by their creative writing teacher, Georgina Hope, participated in an interactive lesson that brought the testimonies from ‘But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust’ into the […]

On October 29, graphic artist Barbara Yelin and SCVN Co-Director Dr. Charlotte Schallié will be featured in a public online webinar as part of the 27th Workshop on National Socialist Camps and Killing Sites. Barbara and Charlotte will be reading from the publication ‘But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust.’ This […]

On October 11, SCVN Media Director Raey Costain met with Ajnura Akbaš who is supporting the Yugoslav Wars Research Cluster as a community liaison. Ajnura works at the Muzej Ratnog Djetinjstva/War Childhood Museum in Sarajevo, an institution focused on the stories of children who have experienced wars and their enduring impact worldwide. Ajnura spoke about […]

In the fall 2024, we had the pleasure of inviting three first-year students from the University of Victoria’s HUMA 180 class to participate in a practicum with the project. The class is a Dean’s Seminar course that introduces Humanities students to current research and researchers through three-week long practicums experience. Our practicum students were Claire […]

We are thrilled to announce that ‘Emmie Arbel. The Color of Memory’ by Barbara Yelin has been selected for the prestigious 2024 White Ravens Catalogue! This incredible recognition highlights the book’s thoughtful visual storytelling and profound exploration of memory and identity.  The White Ravens Catalogue, published annually by the International Youth Library in Munich, showcases […]

Teaching the Holocaust and other mass atrocities is one of the most important, yet challenging, responsibilities educators face. The weight of history, the complexity of events, and the emotional intensity surrounding the topic often leave teachers unsure of how best to approach it with their students. To support this challenge, Dr. Andrea Webb, co-director of […]

We are very pleased to announce Turtle Island Research Cluster Co-lead Duncan McCue has been awarded a Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) grant of $57,900 to expand the production of his graphic novel project to over one hundred pages. McCue, an Anishinaabe journalist and professor at Carleton University, is writing the graphic novel in […]

From July 4-6, our project partners at the Institute for the Performing Arts and Film at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) hosted an interdisciplinary arts-based research incubator for scholars, artists, storytellers and educators who joined us from Canada, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Israel and  Cameroon. This interdisciplinary exchange included graphic artists from the […]

From June 18-20, our project partners from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Turtle Island Research Cluster hosted a three-day Annual General Meeting around the theme of ‘Landed Learning and Indigenous Ways of Knowing’. Artists and team leadership from Canada, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States, gathered with us on […]

“Our perspectives of the past are largely shaped by the stories of those who experienced it.” On May 28, 2024 a panel of researchers, artists, and witnesses will gather to reflect on the ways in which graphic novels can be used to gather stories violence and genocide. These stories are not universal or encompassing of […]

From April 13 to July 31, 2024 the Ravensbrück Memorial is hosting an exhibition of ‘But I Live. Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust’ in cooperation with the International Comic Salon Erlangen and the Stadtmuseum Erlangen. ‘But I Live’ (2022) edited by SCVN Co-Director Charlotte Schallié was an important publication because of the […]

On March 20, 2024 join SCVN co-director Charlotte Schallié and illustrator Barbara Yelin for the next instalment of the Art & Testimony webinar series. In this webinar session, Barbara Yelin will discuss her collaborative memory work with Holocaust child survivor Emmie Arbel for ‘But I Live’ (2022) and ‘Emmie Arbel. The Colour of Memory’ (2023). […]

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new webinar series on the theme of Art and Testimony. In collaboration with UBC-V Public Humanities Hub this series has been developed as a critical exploration of contemporary arts-based research. The first webinar session with Dr Hank Greenspan will take place on January 25, 2024. Find […]

For Holocaust Memorial Day 2024, illustrator and graphic artist Barbara Yelin will be giving a lecture titled: ‘But I Live’ – Emmie Arbel’s Illustrated Story of the Fragility of Freedom. The ‘Fragility of Freedom’ is the overarching theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day and explores the many ways that human rights such as freedom […]

‘But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust’ was created in the first stage of the Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives project. Since its publication in May 2022, ‘But I Live’ (ed. Charlotte Schallié, University of Toronto Press) has been recognized as a unique and sorely needed collection of testimonies about the Holocaust. Both […]

We are delighted to announce the publication of Barbara Yelin’s graphic novel ‘Emmie Arbel. Die Farbe der Erinnerung’ (Emmie Arbel. The Color of Memory) documenting her extensive memory work with Emmie Arbel. Born in Holland in 1937, Emmie Arbel was deported with her Jewish family in 1942 and survived the Nazi concentration camps Ravensbrück and […]

The exhibition “But I Live: Remembering the Holocaust” is being hosted at the Wiesbaden Kunsthaus from September 14th to November 26th, 2023. Special thanks to Regine Meldt for hosting the opening night with the Kamp brothers Rolf and Nico, Gilad Seliktar, and curator Jakob Hoffmann! More information can be found by selecting the exhibition program […]

We received some wonderful photographs from the opening of our ”Aber ich lebe” – den Holocaust erinnern” exhibition at the schauraum: comic & cartoon in Dortmund.