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Celebrating ‘Emmie Arbel: The Colour of Memory’ in the 2024 White Ravens Catalogue! 

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We are thrilled to announce that ‘Emmie Arbel: The Colour 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. 

Pages from ‘Emmie Arbel: The Colour of Memory’ by Barbara Yelin.

The White Ravens Catalogue, published annually by the International Youth Library in Munich, showcases exceptional children’s and youth literature from around the globe. Being included in this esteemed list is a testament to the book’s universal appeal and its artistic and literary merit. The selection is made by a panel of experts who consider various factors, including creativity, diversity, and the quality of the storytelling. 

“… The White Ravens catalogue, is the most important annual publication of the International Youth Library. It aims to promote quality in children’s book publishing and has become an increasingly useful tool for anyone interested in looking beyond national borders. The White Ravens 2024 contains a selection of 216 notable children’s and young adult books published in 44 languages from 62 countries.” 

The White Ravens 2024 | Preface 

This achievement is a celebration of the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in bringing Emmie’s story to life. Our sincere congratulations to Emmie and Barbara and our thanks to all those who have supported this project.

Get a digital copy of ‘Emmie Arbel: The Colour of Memory’ here. Available in the original German as well as English and French translations.

Literaturfest Foto:Catherina Hess
Literaturfest Foto:Catherina Hess

2024 AGM at the University of British Columbia: Centring Indigenous and Arts-Based Approaches to Testimony

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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. Artists and team leadership from Canada, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States, gathered with us on the unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people. At a pre-meeting event hosted by the German Consulate, artist Tobi Dahmen presented his recent publication, Columbusstrasse, to an engaged and enthusiastic audience. Artist Anneli Furmark spoke to students in the UBC Nordic Studies program about her work with comics and graphic novels. 

Anneli Furmark presenting to UBC students. Image credit Charlotte Schallié.

On Day 1 of the AGM, participants joined Dr. Eduardo Jovel for a presentation on Landed Learning at the xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden in the UBC Farm. With an emphasis on teaching, learning, and research, xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden serves educational and research needs related to Indigenous knowledge and its intersections with other ways of knowing; our group learned about land as teacher and food as medicine. In the afternoon, Dr. Shannon Leddy guided participants through an art-making workshop, reflecting on visual storytelling and land-based approaches to learning. SCVN data director, Dr. Matt Huculak also gave a presentation on archiving arts-based research to the project artists.

xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden. Image credit Raey Costain.
xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden. Image credit Raey Costain.
Sketch at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden. Image credit Miriam Libicki.
Art making workshop with Andrea Webb (left) and Shannon Leddy (right), June 19, 2024. Image credit Charlotte Schallié.
Participants exploring the interactive database at the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. Image credit Raey Costain.

On Day 2, participants gained insights into the practices and approaches of Indigenizing testimony collection and Indigenous data sovereignty with a presentation from Kristin Kozar, director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. Following this, Duncan McCue facilitated a reflection on traumatic testimony and survivor-centred engagement, providing the opportunity for project members to share their experiences and learn from one another. 

Though not a scheduled activity, the artists and scholars who gathered for the AGM took frequent opportunities to spend time on the beautiful beaches and walkways that surround UBC.

Project members gathered on the beach. Image credit Matt Huculak.

We would like to express our deep gratitude to all participants for their willingness to experience land-based approaches and share their diverse perspectives as they continue to work with survivors in creating visual narratives of testimony. We hope that our annual meetings provide opportunities for community and connection, supporting future arts-based research and acknowledging the important work created thus far.

‘But I Live’ at the Ravensbrück Memorial

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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 way the stories it contains were created. Graphic artists Miriam Libicki, Gilad Seliktar, and Barbara Yelin, worked closely with (respectively) David Schaffer, Nico and Rolf Kamp, and Emmie Arbel to gather their memories and experiences of surviving the Holocaust as children. This collection of graphic narratives set the tone for the broader SCVN project and many of the relationships that began with ‘But I Live’ continue on in the current work.

For the SCVN project, this new exhibition at Ravensbrück represents a commitment to learn about and remember the stories that have been so carefully gathered – in a way that does not reduce survivors to their moment of pain but instead honours their life experiences before, during, and after the events they endured.

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Photographs by Eberhard Schorr. Ravensbrück exhibition opening, April 2024.

Holocaust Memorial Day 2024 Lecture by Barbara Yelin

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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 of movement, expression, and religion are oppressed and restricted by regimes of power. This lecture will explore the way that freedom and liberation are often entangled with ongoing experiences of grief, loss, and absence.

Barbara Yelin is a graphic artist working with the Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives Holocaust Research Cluster. She has worked closely with Holocaust survivor Emmie Arbel whose stories can be found in ‘But I Live’ and in the recent publication ‘Emmie Arbel. Die Farbe der Erinnerung’ (Emmie Arbel. The Colour of Memory) Barbara’s other publications include the award-winning 2014 book ‘Irmina’.

Thank you to the event co-hosts, the Institute for the History of the German Jews in Hamburg, the Wiener Holocaust Library London and the Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Leicester.

Details

January 22, 2024 | 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm CET

Virtual event delivered via zoom

Admission is free but registration is required

Register Here

‘Aber ich lebe’ now available through the German Federal Agency for Civic Education

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Artwork by Barbara Yelin

‘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 the German (‘Aber ich lebe’) and English versions have reached wide-ranging audiences and will be incorporated into Holocaust education curriculum.

The success of ‘But I Live’ and the connections that developed between artists and survivors through its creation paves the way for the next stages of the Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives project.

The German version of this book, ‘Aber ich lebe’, is now available through the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (German Federal Agency for Civic Education), an organization which aims to support and engage citizens, promoting understanding of political issues, enhancing democratic awareness, and strengthening the willingness to participate in politics. This recognition ensures that the stories of survivors Emmie, David, Nico, and Rolf will reach wider audiences, furthering the goals of this work to remember and learn from atrocities such as the Holocaust and prevent them from happening again.

A special thank you and congratulations to artists Miriam Libicki, Gilad Seliktar and Barbara Yelin whose thoughtful artwork continues to engage audiences of every age, making certain that the survivors’ stories will live on in the hearts and minds of generations to come.

Publication of Barbara Yelin’s ‘Emmie Arbel. The Colour of Memory’

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We are delighted to announce the publication of Barbara Yelin’s graphic novel ‘Emmie Arbel. Die Farbe der Erinnerung’ (Emmie Arbel. The Colour 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 Bergen-Belsen as a child. Her parents and grandparents were murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust.

Emmie Arbel now lives near Haifa, Israel. She often travels to Germany to speak as a contemporary witness. Although her childhood was marked by death, speechlessness, abuse and loneliness, she looks back on a life full of rebellion, self-empowerment and humour. In her constant effort to bring her memories out of the silence, the consequences of the Holocaust become visible – in her life, with her family, in every single day.

Barbara Yelin’s graphic novel is based on her personal encounters and numerous intensive conversations with Emmie Arbel. It is a continuation of the first collaboration, and includes 40 pages already published in the anthology “Aber ich leben” (CH Beck) (“But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust” (University of Toronto Press) from 2022.

Edited by Charlotte Schallié and Alexander Korb, the graphic novel will be published on November 6, 2023 and is available to purchase from Reprodukt Publishing.

Reviews and Mentions

Find the article here (German only).

“For her, drawing, Yelin once said, is a process of searching, recognizing and carefully approaching reality. In ‘Emmie Arbel – The Colour of Memory’ she masterfully shows where this process can lead.”

Lars von Törne, 2023

Wiesbaden Kunsthaus hosts “But I Live: Remembering the Holocaust” – September 14 – November 26, 2023

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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 poster and on the website.

A curator’s tour of the exhibition took place on Thursday, September 21st at 5:00 pm with Jakob Hoffmann. The Kunsthaus also created a short film about the exhibition, featured on their YouTube Channel: