Here you can find all the information regarding current venues where the exhibition is presented, as well as past events and future plans connected to the Unfinished Lives project.
List of the Unfinished Lives exhibitions:
2023
- The exhibition in Magdeburg (Germany), Landtag Sachsen-Anchalt, October 11 – November 29
- The exhibition in Trondheim (Norway), in Biblioteket, within the Jødisk Kulturfestival Trondheim, August 25 – September 11
- The exhibition in Bielefeld (Germany), Adult Education Centre Bielefeld, August 27 – October 8
- High School No 4, Wrocław, April 17 – April 25
- High School No 13, Wrocław, April 26 – May 17
- High School No 1, Wrocław, May 18 – May 29
- High School No 10, Wrocław, May 29 – June 20
- The outdoor exhibition at the premises of the Lower Saxony State’s Representation in Berlin (Berlin, Germany), in German and English, January 22 – February 15.
- The HL-Center (Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities) in cooperation with Oslo Jewish Museum (Oslo, Norway) (October-present), in Norwegian and English. Opened October 26, 2022 and can still be visited at the Center in Oslo
2022
- The Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in cooperation with Oslo Jewish Museum (Oslo, Norway) (October-present), in Norwegian and English
- The Market Square in Wrocław, as part of the Days of Mutual Respect (Wrocław, Poland) (October-November), in Polish and Ukrainian
- Synagogue in Görlitz (Görlitz, Germany) (August-October), in German
- The Culture Centre DAStietz, as part of the Days of Jewish Culture (Chemnitz, Germany) (April-July), in German
- Landtag of Brandenburg (Potsdam, Germany) (January-March), in German
2018
A permanent exhibition at the White Stork Synagogue (Wroclaw, Poland) (present), in Polish, English and German
Concerts Unfinished Lives:
- August 26, 2023, Bielefeld (Germany), Bente Kahan with the concert: Wie ist die Welt so Stille (based on the poems of Ilse Weber)
- November, 2022, POLIN Museum History of Polish Jews, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Poland (Warsaw, Poland): Bente Kahan, Ronen Nissan, Anna Błaut, Christian Danowicz and the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra
- November, 2021, Spanish Synagogue (Prague, Czech Republic): Bente Kahan, Ronen Nissan, Christian Danowicz and the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra
- November, 2021, White Stork Synagogue (Wrocław, Poland): Bente Kahan, Ronen Nissan, Christian Danowicz and the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra
- September, 2019, White Stork Synagogue (Wrocław, Poland): Bente Kahan, Ronen Nissan, Anna Błaut, Tomasz Leszczyński, Małgorzata Wasiucionek, Malwina Kotz, Marzena Malinowska, Jan Skopowski, Mirosław Mały
About the exhibition
Unfinished Lives is a multimedia project presenting artists murdered during World War II, suffering the common fate of European Jews. In the midst of the horror, artists continued to express themselves through literature, music, visual and performing arts.
The material included in the exhibition is unique, presenting often forgotten artists and their works, and sometimes even showcasing them to the public for the first time. The pre-WWII European Jewish art was multilingual, multicultural, and diverse, both thematically and formally. Behind each photo is an actual person, introduced with a biography and the surviving artwork, such as writings, paintings, films, or music. If there is no existing photo, the person is represented symbolically as a shadow. We want to make our artists and their work known for a large audience. For this, we have undertaken new translations of literature and produced videos, concerts, recordings, often in various languages.
The project started as a permanent exhibition at the White Stork Synagogue in Wroclaw, Poland. After its expansion, it became a hybrid, analog-virtual project with travelling exhibitions presented in Poland and abroad.
Together with the exhibition, we have also produced the concert Unfinished Lives, with Bente Kahan, Ronen Nissan, and the National Forum of Music – NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra Wrocław, Poland.
Unfinished lives today exists (2023) in English, German, Polish, Ukrainian, and Norwegian versions. We are still looking for international partners to help expand it. We wish to continue presenting it at multiple venues internationally.
War is not an abstract notion, but a reoccurring nightmare. Art resonates with each of us and helps interpret events.
The Holocaust is our shared legacy and has become the modern world’s metric for evil.
. suffering the common fate of European Jews during World War II
The 'Unfinished Lives' team
Project concept and curating
Bente Kahan
Coordination of production
Agnieszka Imiela-Sikora, Marek Mielczarek
Gathering and preparation of materials
Małgorzata Hućko, Beata Mazurek, Katarzyna Taczyńska, Anna Trojanowska, Malwina Tuchendler, Piotr Zadworny
Scholarly editing
Katarzyna Taczyńska
Language editing and English translations
Dahlia Pfeffer Luxemburg
Graphic design
Aleksandra Lubos-Zadroż (Vidifilm)
Website
Jakub Wieczorek, Piotr Zadworny
We would also like to thank the Ministry of Finances and Europe of Land Brandenburg, the Brandenburg Landtag as well as the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Theresienstadt Ghetto Memorial Site „Památník Terezín“, the Paul Sacher Foundation and personally Lillebjørn Nilsen, Ronen Nissan, Marcin Markowicz, Peter Leben, Manfred Lemm, Bernhard Hofstötter, Andrzej Słomianowski, Jamie Bulloch, Anastasiya Lyubas, Karolina Szymaniak, Anna Maja Misiak and Hanna Kubiak.
Preparation of the Norwegian artists
Torill Torp Holte, Dag Kopperud, Mats Tangestuen (Jewish Museum in Oslo), Guri Hjeltnes, Carl Emil Vogt, Jakob Berg Olsen (The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority)
The project is co-financed by the Municipality of Wrocław
Here you can find all the information regarding current venues where the exhibition is presented, as well as past events and future plans connected to the Unfinished Lives project.
List of the Unfinished Lives exhibitions:
2023
- The exhibition in Magdeburg (Germany), Landtag Sachsen-Anchalt, October 11 – November 29
- The exhibition in Trondheim (Norway), in Biblioteket, within the Jødisk Kulturfestival Trondheim, August 25 – September 11
- The exhibition in Bielefeld (Germany), Adult Education Centre Bielefeld, August 27 – October 8
- High School No 4, Wrocław, April 17 – April 25
- High School No 13, Wrocław, April 26 – May 17
- High School No 1, Wrocław, May 18 – May 29
- High School No 10, Wrocław, May 29 – June 20
- The outdoor exhibition at the premises of the Lower Saxony State’s Representation in Berlin (Berlin, Germany), in German and English, January 22 – February 15.
- The HL-Center (Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities) in cooperation with Oslo Jewish Museum (Oslo, Norway) (October-present), in Norwegian and English. Opened October 26, 2022 and can still be visited at the Center in Oslo
2022
- The Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in cooperation with Oslo Jewish Museum (Oslo, Norway) (October-present), in Norwegian and English
- The Market Square in Wrocław, as part of the Days of Mutual Respect (Wrocław, Poland) (October-November), in Polish and Ukrainian
- Synagogue in Görlitz (Görlitz, Germany) (August-October), in German
- The Culture Centre DAStietz, as part of the Days of Jewish Culture (Chemnitz, Germany) (April-July), in German
- Landtag of Brandenburg (Potsdam, Germany) (January-March), in German
2018
A permanent exhibition at the White Stork Synagogue (Wroclaw, Poland) (present), in Polish, English and German
Concerts Unfinished Lives:
- August 26, 2023, Bielefeld (Germany), Bente Kahan with the concert: Wie ist die Welt so Stille (based on the poems of Ilse Weber)
- November, 2022, POLIN Museum History of Polish Jews, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Poland (Warsaw, Poland): Bente Kahan, Ronen Nissan, Anna Błaut, Christian Danowicz and the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra
- November, 2021, Spanish Synagogue (Prague, Czech Republic): Bente Kahan, Ronen Nissan, Christian Danowicz and the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra
- November, 2021, White Stork Synagogue (Wrocław, Poland): Bente Kahan, Ronen Nissan, Christian Danowicz and the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra
- September, 2019, White Stork Synagogue (Wrocław, Poland): Bente Kahan, Ronen Nissan, Anna Błaut, Tomasz Leszczyński, Małgorzata Wasiucionek, Malwina Kotz, Marzena Malinowska, Jan Skopowski, Mirosław Mały