• Home
  • About
    • About
    • Policies
  • Submissions
    • Op-eds
    • News / Announcements
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

eJewish Philanthropy

Your Jewish Philanthropy Resource

  • News Bits
  • Jewish Education
  • Readers Forum
  • Research
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / Readers Forum / From Asylum With Momentum

From Asylum With Momentum

May 25, 2016 By eJP

By Jonathan Rotsztain

Asylum Arts is a beautiful dream made real. Bringing multi-disciplinary artists from around the world together to discuss our practices and professions as well as skill-share, successfully aids artists in building solidarity, inspiring and supporting one another. Asylum creates a context for cross-pollination and collaboration. And the common denominator of a connection to Judaism highlights the unique position Jewish artists hold to create and shape Jewish identity.

I first attended the Asylum Arts Retreat in Garrison, NY in May 2015. The experience was transformative. I was introduced to talented artists and exposed to new modes of thinking, working and experiences of Judaism. In an idyllic setting along the shores of the Hudson River, I was inspired to build my personal and professional practice and further bring Jewish themes into my art practice.

jr_ejp01I met Michael Rubenfeld during my initial Asylum encounter. Michael is an accomplished actor, director and playwright. We immediately connected over our shared history and interests. As the only Canadians in a group of almost 80, perhaps it wasn’t surprising that many years later, Michael went to the same high school as my mother did in Winnipeg, that we were both the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors and that we use our art practices to explore the trauma of the Holocaust and how it effects our contemporary Jewish identities.

With the generous support of an Asylum Arts grant along with the ROI Community, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Toronto and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Michael and I spent the last year collaborating on a comic book project. Featuring my artwork, Motherland tells Michael’s autobiographical story of confronting intergenerational trauma and reclaiming Jewish Poland. Our 20 page preview is now available in English and will debut in Polish at this year’s Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków.

jr_ejp02Asylum has directly inspired another sequential work. Self-Loving Jew will premiere shortly on Koffler.Digital, a new multimedia storytelling platform launched by Toronto’s Koffler Centre of the Arts. The series of comic strips essays explore Judaism while fostering secular Jewish identity. The first instalment, 10 Commandments, lays out the principles of reclaiming the self-hating Jew aspersion in favour of a confident cultural practice. The first three instalments will appear in June with more to follow.

jr_ejp03Motherland and Self-Loving Jew are direct manifestations of the investment and energy I gained by attending the 2015 Asylum Arts Retreat. It was a great privilege to attend this year’s Asylum Arts All-Star edition. Returning to Garrison this May for another retreat was a welcome homecoming. I reconnected with friends made last year while befriending many more talented, dedicated Jewish artists from each of the Asylum’s previous iterations.

So much has happened in the last year. Through Asylum, I’m now part of a large and growing network of global creatives. I am imbued with a deeper sense of and commitment to my Jewish identity. I am collaborating and making meaningful work about powerful Jewish subjects. Following this year’s Asylum reunion, I am more inspired than ever to tell Jewish stories through my art.

Jonathan Rotsztain is a writer, cartoonist and graphic designer in Toronto. Learn more at rotsztain.com

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Readers Forum Tagged With: Jewish Culture, ROI Community / Schusterman

Click here to Email This Post Email This Post to friends or colleagues!

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Join The Conversation

What's the best way to follow important issues affecting the Jewish philanthropic world? Our Daily Update keeps you on top of the latest news, trends and opinions shaping the landscape, providing an invaluable source for inspiration and learning.
Sign Up Now
For Email Marketing you can trust.

Continue The Conversation

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Recent Comments

  • Marty Kander on BBYO receives historic $25 million Pledge to Support Women’s Leadership and Empowerment
  • Esther Shapiro on BBYO receives historic $25 million Pledge to Support Women’s Leadership and Empowerment
  • Judy Aron on BBYO receives historic $25 million Pledge to Support Women’s Leadership and Empowerment
  • Jeremy Broekman on BBYO receives historic $25 million Pledge to Support Women’s Leadership and Empowerment
  • Cindy Chazan on BBYO receives historic $25 million Pledge to Support Women’s Leadership and Empowerment

Most Popular Recent Posts

  • BBYO receives historic $25 million Pledge to Support Women’s Leadership and Empowerment
  • Words to Avoid – 2019 Edition
  • Being Heard: What We Owe Jewish Community Professionals
  • Redefining Jewish Education: Federations’ Goals for a New Century
  • Caregiving – The Big Issue No One is Talking About

Categories

Archives

Footer

What We Do

eJewish Philanthropy highlights news, resources and thought pieces on issues facing our Jewish philanthropic world in order to create dialogue and advance the conversation. Learn more.

Top 40 Philanthropy Blogs and Websites to Follow in 2019

Copyright © 2019 · eJewish Philanthropy · All Rights Reserved