It is after sunset. Three stars have appeared in the sky. A transition takes place. The time devoted to resting is slipping away, the time of the week about to begin. This is a moment of in-between-ness.
In Judaism, the ritual that marks this moment is Havdalah. It reflects the act of differentiation between the profane and the holy, the everyday and the transcendental. As so many rituals, it is performed according to a sequence of prescribed rules and instructions. Only when they have been carried out, is the transition considered complete. But what if we lingered in that liminality?
Lehavdíl (להבדיל), which means “to distinguish” or “to separate”, explores Havdalah as a generative act that opens up a transitory space for experience. Between June 28th and July 2nd, three international artists reinterpret the ritual through a series of performative, multi-sensory, intimate, affective and tactile art projects.
Lehavdíl is a public art programme presented in the frame of the 32nd edition of the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow. It is funded by the European Union, the Foundation for German-Polish Cooperation, MARIO, Minority Rights Group Europe, Fonds Darstellende Künste: Research Funding.
Curatorial Team: Lianne Mol & Yael Sherill
Participating Artists: Wojtek Blecharz, Shelley Etkin, Florence To
