If you were thinking of heading down to Kazimierz this week, the newly opened Galicia Museum has two excellent exhibitions up its sleeve. The first, 'Traces of Memory' may already be familiar to old Cracow hands. This stunning exhibition of photographs chronicles the Jewish heritage of the surrounding region. It's a tremendous work that's well worth investigating (click on the culture button for more info).
This month, a new exhibition kicked off that echoes some of the themes of the opening show, albeit in a completely different fashion. 'Hitler's List' focuses on the galaxy of artists and cultural luminaries that were persecuted by the Nazi regime, from Albert Einstein to 'The Pianist' , Wladyslaw Szpilman. It goes without saying that many of these figures came to tragic ends, and this factor is always with you as you explore the show.
However, 'Hitler's List' is by no means a maudlin exhibition. Quite the contrary. Taking a completely different tack on the legacy of these greats, here we have an exhibition of playful caricatures, courtesy of the distinguished British artist John Minnion.
At first sight, you might wonder just quite how an exhibition would work on this subject. After all, Jewish victims of the Nazi regime are not the most obvious candidates for a caricaturist's brush. However, the exhibition works triumphantly, largely on account of the specific personalities themselves, coupled with the artist's wonderful talent at capturing their spirits.
Indeed, when you look at the vibrant work of the subjects themselves, be it the magical visions of Marc Chagall or the fantastical fables of Bruno Schulz, the more you feel that they themselves would have enjoyed such a warm-hearted, playful tribute. And the bottom line is that these caricatures are first class. It's a mark of Minnion's talent that he has even managed to capture the spirits of lesser known figures such as Austrian writer Stefan Zweig or Polish legend Bruno Schulz, who is still little known in the West.
Minnion's enthusiasm and affinity for the subject exudes from every portrait, as it does from the lively texts that go with the accompanying book. It's a great show. So if you were toying with the idea of heading down to Kazimierz this week - just go! The Galicia Museum has two reasons in itself.
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