On September 25th, the exhibition of Michael Rogatchi’s Jewish Melody series has been opened at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library in the capital of Lithuania, a very special in the history city known previously as ‘Jerusalem of the North’.
The exhibition was a part of the official programme of the IV World Litvak Congress, a special and memorable international gathering devoted to the history of the distinct and large group of Jewish people originated from Lithuania. This year, the Congress had been dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Vilna Ghetto’s liquidation. Michael Rogatchi has created his new Jewish Melody series specifically for the commemorating events.
The artist dedicated his series to the memory of his and his wife’s grandparents – Sofia Litowsky-Reiss and Simon Reiss, Adel Chigrinsky and Abram Elovitch, and Bella and Eliah Buyanover. Both Michael’s and Inna’s families are partially Litvak, and the artistic Rogatchi family has a very strong bond to the Litvak heritage.
The place for the exhibition has come as of no coincidence, either – The Rogatchi Foundation has been supporting the Vilnius Jewish Public Library for years now, from the very first stage of this unique project. In his greeting address sent from Kiel, Germany, the library’s founder, Wyman Brent has mentioned:
“I’m an American who moved to Lithuania to work on establishing a Jewish library. I have no Jewish or Lithuanian background. My wife lives in Germany. Our meeting was a miracle and our child, the son who was born earlier today is a miracle, too. Miracles do happen as you can see looking through the story of how this library opened in December 2011 for the first time since 1943.
This library is a celebration of all culture created by Jews. I must thank the Rogatchis for their continued marvellous support! And I am very happy to greet you all, gathered today at the Vilnius Public Jewish Library for this grand event”.
The Rogatchis’ input into the library’s development has been also mentioned specifically at the plenary session of the Seimas, the Lithuanian parliament, by a prominent Lithuanian and international politician Emmanuelis Zingeris and other leading figures of the Lithuanian state during the events of the Congress and in connection with the opening of the exhibition.
The opening of the Jewish Melody exhibition has been attended by many diplomats, politicians, historic personalities and leading cultural figures. The Ambassadors and high representatives of the states of Finland, the USA, Estonia, Canada, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Moldova and Ukraine were present at the opening; there also have been representatives of the UK and Israel. The opening was attended also by such legendary personages of modern world history as Ambassador Romas Misiunas and Colonel, US Army, former Counsellor of the Lithuanian Military Academy Dr Algirdas Kanauka. Present at the opening were such leading cultural figures of Lithuania as world famous composer Anatolius Senderovas, writer Goda Ferensiene, artist and the son of famous artist Augustinas Savickas Raimondas Savickas, renowned educator Vytautas Toleikis, and many others.
The opening ceremony was led by the head of the Vilnius Jewish Public Library, Zilvinas Beliauskas, who is a notable member of the Vilnius intellectual elite and son of the legendary Lithuanian Soviet-time dissident Jadvyga Bieliauskiene, known publicly as ‘the Sister of Truth’.
First Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, the Lithuanian parliament, and internationally recognised leading Lithuanian politician Dr Petras Austrevicius opened the exhibition with his Opening Remarks:
“Michael and Inna Rogatchi have been avid supporters of this unique cultural and public institution for several years now, and we know that we can always rely on these great friends of Lithuania, Lithuanian and Jewish culture and heritage, in our existing activities and future development. Importantly, when we invited Michael, the big European artist, to come with his new exhibition to Lithuania, and to hold it at the events of the IV World Litvak Congress, Michael Rogatchi chose this very library to become the venue of the inaugural exhibition of his new art series. We do value such a gesture of the artist very much, indeed. This library which is also a very vivid cultural centre filled with many events inter-connecting time, history, memories and cultures, is a real implementation of both of our intentions to deal with the past, and our aspirations for the future. The Jewish culture and the Jewish heritage are an absolutely integral part of both the Lithuanian culture and heritage, and even Lithuanian national identity as a whole. Without it, this heritage and identity would be invalid. Without realisation of it, we would be neither authentic, nor honest. We are undertaking a lot of effort of all sorts and kinds to get ourselves and our children as far along as possible on this vital road. The more we are valuing the efforts, help and support of others, our dear friends, people who both understand and share, who are infusing the content of memories and heritage into great art, into our common feeling of belonging – as Michael and Inna Rogatchi are doing consistently and brilliantly, and as they are sharing it with us with their open hearts and friendship. We do value it a lot, and will always remember it”.
H.E. Mr Harri Mäki-Reinikka the Ambassador of Finland to Lithuania in his Ambassador Greetings did emphasise:
“It is an honour to me to be a participant in this interesting and important exhibition at the Jewish Public Library, in commemorating the Vilnius Ghetto liquidation 70 years ago. I think that this is certainly not an exhibition like many of the 70 other exhibitions in Finland and abroad by Michael Rogatchi. We are here at the same time remembering the pain, suffering and death caused 70 years ago by Nazis and their collaborators. Those events were a tragedy – not only for the Jewish – but to whole Lithuania. The horrible events underline now and in the future even more than ever, that historical memory helps to avoid similar kind of things to happen in the future. History should not repeat itself – and therefore we all have to fight every day against anti-Semitism, xenophobia, racism, incitement of ethnic, religious or other hatred: not now and only for example in Syria – but everywhere – even in countries where we didn’t experience the Holocaust! We have to learn from local stories, from so called micro-history and put everything in the context of macro-history, to try to understand the background of those events – even if it is not easy. It is important that research and education concerning the Holocaust continues and develops the common understanding, but important as well is to have memorial sites and remembrance. Art can be part of all those elements I mentioned, sometimes the most important element of all – as the issue itself is complicated and so difficult to understand. This exhibition shows also the vitality of the Jewish culture and arts, it is an interesting opportunity to learn about the spirit and soul of that culture – created by so famous Michael – not only in Finland but in many other countries as well. I am very proud that Michael by his works promotes also Finland, his country of living – and I thank the Library in organizing the exhibition, the audience for the attention and first of all Mr and Mrs Rogatchi for their input today in Vilnius”.
Minister-Counsellor of the Embassy of Finland Mr Juha Vänskä, a long-time friend of Inna and Michael Rogatchi, and cultural attaché Ms Kristina Andersson also participated at the inaugural ceremony.
Widely internationally recognised Lithuanian politician, MP Emmanuelis Zingeris, Chairman of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee, Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and President of the Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies has started his customarily brilliant speech by thanking the Finnish Ambassador as the highest representative of his country for the Finnish hospitality turned into the life-embrace for Michael and Inna Rogatchi. Analysing Michael’s work exhibited in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Vilna Ghetto’s liquidation, distinguished cultural figure and historian Mr Zingeris remembered a particular episode from the tragic history of the Vilna Ghetto:
“Just two days before the liberation, many prisoners of Stutthof concentration camp in Estonia where many of the prisoners of the Vilna Ghetto had been transported, had been killed with a doubled enthusiasm by the Nazis. Among them were 26 actors, entire actor ensemble, technicians and musicians of the beloved in Vilnius Yiddish Marionette Maydim. All young, talented, innocent men. When their bodies were found a few days after the execution, all of them were having in the inner pockets of their suit jackets a photograph from their theatre performances. They died with those photographs laying on their hearts, literally too. It tells you something on the power of art, doesn’t it? Especially, in the cases, when the art is becoming a life-thread for those who not just create it, but who live by it, as well”.
Emmanuelis Zingeris has also underlined the thread that Michael Rogatchi has been preserving during all his life, and which he is applying to his art ever since:
“Just think and imagine, distinguished guests and dear members of the audience, a Jewish boy, Misha, living with his family being exiled to Karaganda, almost the end of the earth, being under constant pressure of that cannibal-like regime, and still keeping the Jewish traditions and observance, completely consciously, under the impossible circumstances, knowing only all too well that they might be exiled to yet some more far away and yet more terrible place. Still, that boy, the first-born in his big, good, strong Jewish family every Pesah (Passover) fulfilling the mitzva, was going with a big pillow-case full of home-baked Matzot, all around their neighbourhood and visiting the other members of the family, bringing the Matzot to all of them, back and again, until he would fulfil his mission. That boy Misha – Michael, he was a messenger, the messenger of a spring coming, liberation, and freedom; of a feast of high spirit and quintessential hope. This artist, big, world-renowned master Michael Rogatchi still is that messenger – in his exquisite art presented in his new series here, and in many other works which are in museums worldwide, he is the messenger.
As a Jewish historian, as the founder and director of the first Jewish state museum in post-Soviet Lithuania, I can tell you with an absolute conviction that both artistically and human-like, in his art and his public stand, Michael Rogatchi is the messenger on behalf of us all.”
Emmanuelis Zingeris also has mentioned:
“Those of you, dear guests, who saw the back-cover of Michael’s quite well-known art album, Shadows of White, might see the picture of his wife, Inna, in her portrait, being just behind Michael’s frontal photograph. Remarkably, as it only could happen in the most authentic way of unintentional spontaneity typical for the real art, Inna’s pose in her portrait is literally the same as Michael’s in his photograph. It does tell you a lot about this couple, and I would like to thank also Inna Rogatchi for being such a stern, solid and vital support and ‘back-force’ for her hugely talented husband. This artistic metaphor on the book cover is the perfect reflection on what we know, feel and understand about this remarkable couple”.
The key-speaker at the ceremony was Professor Habil, member of the Lithuanian Academy of Science Algirdas Gaizutis, the principal of the University of the Educational Science, and the leading Lithuanian art historian. In his speech, Professor Gaizutis was analysing the artistic side of Michael Rogatchi’s Jewish Melody series, and the work of the artist in general. He saw the essence of the artistic resolution of the Jewish Melody series in “the engaging contrast between a world chaos and its cosmos. The chaos is represented in the Jewish Melody works by the same deep dark background of all fifteen works; viewers can almost feel that the forces of bad and unpredictable are concentrated within that tissue of chaos. But the artist does not allow them to surface, he just reminds us on the existence of this stratum of forces which are opposing and dangerous for humanity. The cosmos in Michael’s works is present in various colourful images created by the artist in the distinctively fine manner typical for his graphic works and the works done in customarily for him mixed technique. The various, mostly rounded, importantly, shapes of the images of cosmos in this series are all emphatically coloured, as if opposing in their circled – meaning completed and harmonious – forms and intensive, optimistic colours to the cold Unknown of the Chaos. In these works, the message of the artist is very well articulated, and it just perfectly infuses Jewish traditions into the common human values – which is important merit of this original, powerful and fine art series. But also importantly, Michael Rogatchi, being a recognised European master of the metaphorical expressionism, resolves his new art work artistically in a masterly and fine way, inter-connecting all fifteen works of this elegant series by the composition and colour decision. Importantly, we can seeing the series of fifteen art works as an united, non-stop song, as a melody indeed – here we are seeing how Michael Rogatchi’s violists, guitarist, accordionist, saxophonist, trumpetist, cellist, clarinettist are playing the same music, the same melody which one quite justly can name the eternal one; and how his dancers are dancing under the very music throughout the history of his people – which is the part of our common history. And I am very glad that today, the youth, the young generation of Lithuanians are quite aware with this. This fact provides me with a joy and an optimism with regard to our people’s common conscience, both regarding the awareness with the terrible past, and with educated hope for the civilised future. I am saluting to big master, famous and justly internationally recognised artist Michael Rogatchi for his so original, so masterly and so human input into our all’ common consciousness, as in artistic, as in human aspects of it”.
In his Artist’s Word, Michael Rogatchi did explain to the audience that he has created his new art series specifically for the events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Vilna Ghetto’s liquidation, and opted for the beautiful, nostalgic, and loving tune of his Jewish Melody.
“In the time of many solemn ceremonies, at the days and nights full of tears, I thought to produce something different. And my choice has been dictated to me by the history of my beloved people: despite so many centuries of the quite persistent killing of us, Jews are alive. They were killing us in this Ghetto, as in many other ghettos during WWII, but we are here today, and among us today are those incredible people who were the prisoners of the Vilna and Kaunas Ghettos and who did survive that annihilation. I wanted to remind, by means of art and its symbols that the more Nazis were killing at their death-‘factories’, the more the Jewish spirit was and is alive. I wanted that the Jewish Melody would be heard ‘aloud’ in the memory of all Jewish people who fell victims of the inhuman atrocities. This work is dedicated to the enlightened memory of my and my wife’s grandparents, part of them were from Lithuania.
I am especially happy that the opening of this special art work in the city which we love, is happening not only during the holiday of Sukkoth, but it falls on the last day of it, the day when observing Jewish people are having as the guest of them King David, the last one of the seven Ushpitzim, the Guests who are visiting Jewish families during Sukkoth. We all know that the most distinctive subject associated with King David is his harp, as his songs, his voice, his music has been the most elevated means of his communication with the Creator. There is no coincidence that in the Jewish religious tradition, the ability of a person to sing – to sing to the Creator – is regarded as the highest of merits. Why is it? – one can ask himself. Would people not be merited for their other qualities and the means of their communications with the Creator? They would, of course, but the music and voice are valued the most – because this is the way of a human soul’s most powerful expression.
That’s why I chose the theme of music for this series. Music is the most natural and most powerful means of conducting not of our emotions only, but also of our memories, of our hopes, of our thoughts, and of our prayers. Music is the universal language of human life, and also, quite importantly, of our memory. There are many nuances applicable for each of these fifteen works, and I’ll be happy to tell you more about it during the vernissage. At this stage, I also would like to thank profoundly all the people to whom we owe this special event, our dearest friends for many years Petras Austrevicius, Mr Ambassador of our country, Finland, and the great team of the Finnish Embassy in Lithuania, also our dear friends during so many years, Professor Gaizutis for his depth and understanding, brilliant Emmanuelis Zingeris for his brotherhood, our great friend Zilvinas Beliauskas who heads this library as a very special institution of our joint memory, all of those who did help this exhibition to happen here, and all of you, dear guests, whose company we are sharing with such pleasure tonight”.
The exhibition has been attracting attention, memories and emotions among many people presented at the inauguration, and visiting it specifically, too. Colonel of the US Army (Ret), Dr Algirdas Kanauka was speaking about his Jewish friends:
“I would like to say a few words about my friends, my closest, dearest friends, the Jewish people from Kaunas and Vilnius, one was a doctor, another was an engineer. Both of them were in the ghettos, but miraculously survived there. The scars of the ghetto nightmares has left on both of us, expectedly, till the end of their lives. Both of them are not with us any longer, but here, next to me is sitting the widow of one of them. I remember with deep love that both of them were not ‘sitting’ on their, or their families sorrow. They were lyrical people who did love music, Jewish music in particular, naturally, and were living with smile shining their humanity, understanding, humour, all around; keeping us, their friends, and their families in a good spirit always, against all odds. And today, I am thinking all evening, looking on Michael’s great, human, lyrical and powerfully beautiful works, and looking at all of you, so many guests attending the event; among us are famous politicians, writers, composers, ambassadors from so many countries, – I am thinking today that my dear friends are, perhaps, smiling up there tonight, and I am very grateful to Michael and to all of you for this”.
And the whole completely full conference hall of the Vilnius Jewish Public Library have said in a half-voice:
“They ARE (smiling).”
It was one of the most special, emotionally charged moments, at the inauguration of the Jewish Melody exhibition; the moment which most likely will stay in the memory of all who attended the ceremony, for ever.
Legendary hero of the Vilna Ghetto, Professor Sara Ginaite who has lived in Toronto for many decades, also visited the exhibition and talked with both Michael and Inna Rogatchi at length.
“I have been the participant of the IV World Litvak Congress here, and before coming here I had been in touch with our good partners, the Wiesenthal Centre in Los-Angeles. Learning that I will be in Vilnius soon, they did insist that I must visit this Library, for this is truly unique, and new, important, institution. So, I am glad that the library has been opened, that it exists and is conducting a very good job, as I am told. I fell in love with the title work of Michael’s exhibition, Jewish Melody. It ALL is there: all our (Jewish ) world which is encapsulated in our incredible, talented music, and this music is as if flying around the world being produced by our great musicians, the embodiment of Jewish talent. This is the way I am trying ‘to read’ Michael’s art work, but honestly, I simply fell in love with it from the first glance”.
The exhibition has caused serious interest in Lithuania, in the Baltic region, and internationally, as well. The state Lithuanian television has run a report from the Jewish Melody opening and the interview with Michael Rogatchi; the EuroNews included into two of their digests, on culture and the events in Lithuania, the leading English-language newspaper of the Baltic region The Baltic Times has run an article about the exhibition as one of their top-stories. Michael Rogatchi has been invited with his art work to the leading Lithuanian art galleries and the State Museum of Tolerance in Vilnius; and the world-famous composer Anatolys Senderovas has expressed his interest in creating special music based on Michael Rogatchi’s recent Jewish Melody original art series.
The exhibition Jewish Melody is on display at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library from September 25 until December 8th, 2013.