“Dancing Auschwitz”
Jane Korman
30 Sept → 22 Oct 2011

This danced based video installation stemmed from Jane Korman’s desire to create artwork that conveys a fresh interpretation of historical memory. It is a celebration of life, but it also evokes loss and mourning.

Dancing Auschwitz comprises of three video pieces together with a large photograph. The first video shows three generations of Korman’s family dancing to Gloria Gaynor’s song, ‘I Will Survive’ performed at various sites of historical trauma. The second reveals memories through re-enactments which touch on the artist’s thoughts about being Jewish. The third is a family movie showing Korman, together with her parents and their friends (all Holocaust survivors) dancing in a forest. The philosopher Theodor Adorno’s declaration ‘Art must go on even after Auschwitz’ has inspired the photograph. It’s message is for humanity to continue the struggle of history and consciousness even in light of the trauma symbolized by Auschwitz. Korman has captured the poignancy of the past, the uncertainty of the present, and an opportunity for a more tolerant future.