INSIDE:
An exhibit
focuses o,
survivois
d
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S
Courtesy of Richard Kozlow
eventeen paintings by Richard
Kozlow, oral testimonies of the
Holocaust assembled by histo-
rian Sidney Bolkosky and an
interactive retrieval system of those tes-
timonies come together in an exhibi-
tion at the Alfred Berkowitz Gallery at
the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
"Diversity: Victims & Survivors,"
running Jan. 15-Feb. 14, is the most
recent in a series focused on the diverse
communities served by the university.
"I think the experience will be
highly emotional," says Kenneth
Gross, director of the Art Museum
Project at the school. "The imagery
is haunting, and the oral histories are
moving. We're making the interviews
very accessible by enabling visitors to
view them by subject."
The paintings, done 11 years ago,
form a series entitled "Victims" and
dramatize man's inhumanity to man.
While they capture Holocaust atroci-
ties, they also portray other devasta-
tion, such as rape.
"I believe blood is redder and
bloodier when it is shown in black
and white," says Kozlow, known for
his large, colored landscapes. "The
scarring newsreel images I saw as a boy
during World War II never left me."
The testimonies will be selected at
random from specific categories.
"I'm trying to include interview
tapes of people from different parts
of Europe, children who were hidden
and survivors of Auschwitz," says
Bolkosky, who has established a Web
site for listening to and reading testi-
monies of Holocaust victims
(www.umd.umich.edu). Bolkosky
has been interviewing survivors for
more than 14 years.
Kevin Pawlowski and Jeff Foster,
two senior computer science stu-
dents, are designing the interactive,
touch-screen video retrieval system •
that will allow gallery visitors simple
and direct access to selected inter-
views. They have found archival
Holocaust photos to make the com-
mentary more visible and jarring.
The people whose work is on dis-
play will discuss the exhibition dur-
ing a free program starting at 7:30
p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11.
"The intimate experiences in the
context of the provocative paintings
make for a very powerful experience
for gallery visitors," Gross says.
— Suzanne Chessler
"Diversity: Victims & Survivors" will be presented Jan. 15-Feb. 14 at the
Alfred Berkowitz Gallery on the third floor of the Mardigian Library on the
University of Michigan-Dearborn campus, 4901 Evergreen Road, Dearborn.
A free program in the gallery at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, will feature
Richard Kozlow discussing his paintings, Dr. Sidney Bolkosky speaking
about his oral histories program and Kevin Pawlowski and Jeff Foster provid-
ing an overview of their interactive video-retrieval system. (313) 593-5087.
1/15
1999
Detroit Jewish News
SI.