[ Modiya > Art > Re-Mediating Jewish Rituals & Holidays ]
Topic: Re-Mediating Jewish Rituals & Holidays
Avant-Garde Jewish Wedding by Melissa Shiff
A central part of the cultural construction of Jewish identities is supported by the symbolic performance of rituals and holid ays. Both are integral to rights of passage, and are indexed through texts, places, time, garments, laws pertaining to food, etc.. Rituals are culturally specific and performed to transport the individual from one stage in the life-cycle to another, as th ey mark yearly cycles, through holidays and creating strong communal identities.
Within this field of meaning the MODIYA ART PROJECT is interested in the following mediations: how do uses of media figure in Jewish religious holidays and ritual practic es, and; how does this engagement with media engender new notions and experiences of Jewish community, continuity, and spirituality.
This includes specific Jewish holidays, as well as life-cycles, marking the transition from one passage of life to anothe r. How have artists expanded and re-aggregated upon century old cultural frameworks.
We look to highlight Projects throughout the Calendar Year. This is a creative endeavor. Therefore, artists should also feel free to submit new celebratory or rituals practices they deem worthy of Jewish festivity and/or commemoration. Preferably, since this is an on-line art work, the submitted Project should reflect this new media, and be mediated as such.