Contemporary Judaica

Myrtle Hadas
(spice box)
by: Anika

Until yesterday I had never heard of the art form contemporary Judaica but was very intrigued by the work. Initially, I was a confused about the meaning behind these pieces that we saw in the gallery by Anika Smulovitz. Her main medium of work is metal; she has a large interest in silversmith and in the Jewish culture, which is essentially what makes up her work. Anika states that contemporary Judaica allows her to examine current issues through Jewish tradition. It was easy to see that she had a history of working with metal because her craftsmanship was really beautiful.

Prayer shawl / Apron

I found out a lot about Jewish tradition and contemporary Judaica from Daniel Belasco in the lecture. I never realized that there were so many traditions and rituals that were apart of the Jewish religion. I find it interesting that artists, like Anika, are now creating pieces that serve both as art but have great meaning and can be used in these traditions. This type of artwork serves multiple purposes, which is very innovative in its own right. One of the pieces that Belasco talked about was that of a prayer shawl used in the Jewish prayer but also doubled as an apron. I thought this was very clever, Belasco explained that the artist, Rachel Kanter, who was also a mother, wanted to stay true Jewish tradition but also needed something practical. I really enjoyed learning about contemporary Judaica, this an art form that is definitely becoming more popular and is extremely interesting.  

Untitled (Hanukah Menorah)
by: Anika