CLAMOR IN THE DESERT // KOL KOREH BAMIDBAR

Mirta Kupferminc, Visual Artist and the Director of LABA BA opens her Sukkartivist at the Jewish History Museum in Tucson, Arizona.

As the artist for this piece, Mirta Kupferminc, writes – the movement of people around the world does not stop stirring.  Whether emigrants, exiles, expatriates, immigrants, or refugees – all are displaced from their homes, and are referenced in this sukkah. The sukkah is an unstable and temporary construction, representing the fragility of human life and at the same time a shelter for anyone who feels forlorn.

Kol Kore Bamidbar, are the Hebrew words to say “That voice that cries out for protection” The work transforms fence materials into a shelter that welcomes everyone. The same material that is used to build limitation and separation are used in this habitable installation to build a celebration, a shelter that receives humanity as a whole. Humanity represented on the walls of the sukkah, as they are  filled with  printed images of eyes through a participatory collective action. Visitors will be invited to hang prints to the installation. Mirrors hanging from the structure will reflect the eyes of visitors, as witnesses. 

In the time of our current plague,  although our mouths are covered with protective masks; our voices in our eyes continue to claim justice together.

Clamor in the Desert is a collaboration of LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture and the Jewish History Museum, made possible with the generous support of CANVAS.  The work is part of the national project – Dwelling in a Time of Plagues – which makes new outdoor art possible at museum sites, with organizational support from the Council of American Jewish Museums.  To see the other works on display, visit plaguedwelling.com.