A REFLECTION: Jewish Diaspora in Carlisle Street, Balaclava 2006-2008
Shoshanna Jordan, B A (Media Arts) Honours
Master of Arts (Fine Art) by Project
School of Art
Design and Social Context Portfolio
RMIT University Melbourne
June 2008
Documentation of a project submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the
Degree of Master of Arts
DECLARATION
I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made the work is that of the artist alone.
The work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award.
The content of the ADR is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement
date and the approved research program.
Shoshanna Jordan
ii
Many thanks go to:
My family, who stood by me throughout.
My Supervisors Shane Hulbert and Dr. Keely Macarow who gave so generously of their time,
knowledge and enthusiasm for the project.
My mentors, John Goldlust, Cathy Henenberg, Brian Gilkes and Emmanuel Santos.
Friends, both in and out of RMIT University.
Special mention to Steph Neoh.
The staff of Fine Art Photography John Billan,
Kelliyann Guerts, Lyndal Walker and Dr. Les Walkling.
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Project Proposal
1 - 15
Bibliography
16 - 21
List of Illustrations
22 - 24
Curriculum Vitae
25 - 26
Exhibitions, private collections & publications
27 - 34
Illustrations
Additional material
35 - 61
CD
ii
A REFLECTION: Jewish Diaspora in Carlisle Street, Balaclava 2006-2008
SUMMARY
This research project will investigate the contemporary Jewish Diaspora with a focus on the cultural
conditions of identity, lifestyle and ritual. A series of photographic images will explore the microcosm of a
minority social group within one geographically contained Melbourne Jewish Community locale.
The locale selected is Carlisle Street, Balaclava, as for the past fifty years there has been a relatively
high concentration of Jewish residents living in that area. However, both the street and the local
neighbourhood are currently undergoing changes that reflect the more recent Jewish and non-Jewish
migration patterns and a younger more affluent generation moving into the surrounding areas.
My photography-based exploration will concentrate on the intersection between identity and place in
contemporary multicultural society, and will articulate how one minority community is currently
responding to global, national and internal pressures towards cultural, economic and socio-political
homogeneity.
1
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
This research project will investigate the contemporary Jewish Diaspora with a focus on the cultural
conditions of place, identity, lifestyle and ritual. The investigation will be restricted to Carlisle Street,
Balaclava. For fifty years there has been a noticeably high concentration of Jewish residents in the
surrounding suburbs of Balaclava. But both the street itself and the local neighbourhoods are currently
undergoing changes that reflect the more recent Jewish and non-Jewish migration and residential
patterns.
Within the investigation I will examine the connections between the Jewish identity of Carlisle Street, and
the cultural changes that are taking place in the street such as: the changing nature of the shopping
precinct, the type of people populating the street, the use of the street and the effect this has on the
social conditions of identity, lifestyle and ritual.
The work will take the form of visual reports that will investigate the people, objects, signs and
inscriptions in Carlisle Street as an example of how one small segment of the global Jewish Diaspora
have constructed their version of ethnicity and community in an Australian context. The photographic
overview of the contemporary streetscape will provide an illustrative case study of broader processes of
immigrants building a community. Carlisle Street with its established institutions, services and shops, all
2
meeting the particular ethnic needs of a diverse range of migrant communities is an example of a
streetscape where Jews have imprinted their unique, albeit multifaceted, identity. Here, the expressly
particular group needs of both secular and orthodox Jewishness is expressed in the street through
artefacts, symbols and signs.
The project aims to research the rituals of orthodox and secular Jews by researching objects that are
reflected in the artefacts and food available in the shopfronts. I will do this through photographing twenty
five Jewish people of different immigrant and cultural backgrounds, gender, age, sex and differing levels
of engagement in the ritual and practice of being Jewish (but who regularly spend time shopping,
strolling and socialising in the environs of Carlisle Street, Balaclava).
The current timing of the project is of great importance as the street is currently undergoing changes
which are reflected in renovations and additions to the shopfronts and service outlets.
3
BACKGROUND
Contemporary Diaspora is central to discussions of issues around Jewish migration,settlememt and
identity. Diaspora refers to the “Displacement, movement and separation of people,” (Sheffer, 2003: p
xii) who previously were geographically concentrated in one area or region but who now maintain a
strong sense of their former identity in new and sometimes very different locations. The Jewish Diaspora,
historically one of the oldest, describes the trans-national totality of people who continue to identify
themselves as Jewish. Traditionally, maintaining this sense of personal and social identity has been
anchored in subjective feelings of connectedness to a distinctive national-religious culture (Judaism/the
Jewish people). More recently amplified by the emergence of the modern Zionist movement (since the
end of the eighteen century), in Europe and many other parts of the world, these Jewish loci for personal
and social identity have become intertwined with processes of emancipation and secularisation. As a
consequence an overwhelming majority of world Jewry are now, to a large extent, “Rooted in secular
national culture” (Sheffer, 2003: xi).
Currently, one of the most crucial issues for ethnically self-conscious members of the contemporary
Jewish Diaspora is its continuity and survival.
The development over long periods of other similar historical and modern ethno-national
Diasporas that are also experiencing the impact of globalisation, regionalisation, and internal
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challenges in their new host countries, suggests that many survive, and some may even
experience revival (Sheffer, 2003: x).
Sheffer (2003, 239) concludes that, the Jewish Diaspora is similar to many other ethno-national
diasporas and it is unlikely to disappear in the near future. However, the influence of secularisation in
Israel as well as in the Diaspora has meant that religiously observant or orthodox Jews now constitute a
minority within all contemporary communities throughout the world. In Looking Jewish, Simon Schama
noted that, “It is the impurity of Jewish life, the ragged edge that frays into the surrounding culture”.
Schama’s observations could apply to what is visible in Carlisle Street. In his discussion of Frederic
Brenner’s photographic work, Schama refers to a “soft focus definition of Jewishness,” (Schama 1996,
iv) whereby it is necessary, in visualising the Jewish ,Diaspora, to move beyond the orthodox Jews. This
is important, because a great deal of the photography of Jews has been of the orthodox Jew, which is
assumed to represent all Jewish people.
The Jewish Diaspora located in Carlisle Street is made up of the orthodox and secular groups integrated
into the social context in which they live. The orthodox focuses on maintaining their traditional religious
culture, whilst the secular treads between the host country, community and the Jewish religious traditions
of food, education, ritual and synagogues (with varying degrees of religiosity).
Brenner’s work is particularly relevant to my research project as he observes (through photography), the
interconnections between Israel and the Diaspora by commenting on Jewish immigrants who have
transplanted Diasporic centres into Israel itself. Brenner’s works have also dealt with the nature of
5
Diasporic Jewish (particularly Orthodox) communities who aim to be ‘next year in Jerusalem’1 but have at
the same time established very permanent settlements within host countries. These settlements are not
static or singular but include multiple communities within a community. Fredric Brenner’s representation
of the Diaspora Jew reflects “a portable identity” (Kaplan 2005, 150) that has been transported,
transplanted and established in countries outside of Israel.
1
In Orthodox Judaism, the longing to be ‘next year in Jerusalem’ is a prayer that is recited by practicing Jew’s to express the
longing to be in Israel.
6
RESEARCH
Formal bibliographic research will begin with a survey of photographers, artists and writers who have
examined issues of community and more specifically notions of the Jewish Diaspora in Australia and
overseas. Ongoing relationships with the Jewish Museum in Melbourne will enable me to conduct a
focussed investigation of their collections and archives, and consider how other photographers have
photographed the Jewish identity of Melbourne.
Technical and visual research will determine the most suitable way to photograph the subjects.
Consideration of the conventions of documentary photography in relation to this project. Issues such as
framing, composition, location, scale, perspective, staging and other formal qualities inherent in
contemporary documentary photography will be considered.
7
LOCATION
The project will be based in Melbourne, and will draw on the resources and facilities of the School of Art
at RMIT University. The photography will be done on location in Carlisle Street, in shops, studios and
homes. Post production work will be completed in my studio and utilising the facilities of the Fine Art
Photography Studio area on the city campus.
8
RATIONALE
There has been considerable photographic work produced on the Jewish Diaspora, dealing with a
diverse range of Jewish communities in different parts of the world. 2
Fredric Brenner’s work is particularly relevant to my research as he not only looks at the Diaspora
outside of Israel but also documents how communities have transplanted Diasporic centres into Israel
itself. Chiefly, his work reflects the nature of communities who aim to be ‘next year in Jerusalem’ but at
the same time have established very permanent settlements within host countries. These are not static
or singular, but reveal multiple communities within a community. In relation to the Diaspora, Frederic
Brenner reveals a transported, transplanted and established “portable identity” of Diasporic Jews in his
photographic work (Brenner, 1996 xiii).
The issue of community is central to this project. Through photography, this project aims to create a
mirror and window effect, whereby the image can expose the community to itself. Louis Kaplan’s book
American Exposures, Photography and Community in the Twentieth Century (2005), investigated the
role of photography as a medium that is able to represent communities to mirror their life as a community
and simultaneously revealing this to the outside world.
2
Examples include books such as: Roman Vishniac (1983), Jason Francisco (2006), Frederic Brenner (2003, 1998 & 1996),
Emmanuel Santos (2003).
9
My project will examine Jewish settlement and immigration and as a representation of broader
immigration processes in contemporary nation states in general and Australia in particular. In doing so I
will explore and represent Jews living in the Australian segment of the Jewish Diaspora, and how they
have constructed ethnicity and community. Carlisle Street, Balaclava is explored as an illustrative
example and case study of the broader process of immigrant adaptation and community building with
Jews setting up their own local environment constituted by institutions, services and shops to meet their
particular group needs. The project will consider the ways that Australian Jews are adapting to the
current changes to services in the street. My research will culminate in photographs exploring the
people, objects, signs, and inscriptions reflecting Jewish life in Carlisle Street. An examination of how
secular and orthodox Judaism is expressed in the street, through artefacts, symbols and signs will also
be explored in my work.
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
1. In what ways can documentary photography reveal and expose Jewishness in the Diasporic
conditions of Carlisle Street, Balaclava?
2. What is the impact of urbanisation on Jewish communities as identified by this project in terms of the
three cultural conditions: identity, lifestyle and ritual?
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METHODS:
Stage 1: March to December 2006 (10 months)
•
Formal bibliographical research
•
Historical research of artists that have been engaged in conversation about and the visualisation
of migration and its reflection on the streetscape - an examination of the theatre of the street
•
Historical research of place including: research around Jewish settlement in the environs of
St Kilda; Jewish waves of migration into the area; globalisation as a manifestation of migration and
its effects on the local communities connected with Carlisle Street, Balaclava
•
Examination of key texts related to migration and sense of place, notions of Diaspora and
attitudes towards integration
•
Contextualisation of art and contemporary imaging of socio-political issues relating to identity,
locality and community
•
Ethics application and clearance
(A request for Leave Of Absence was obtained for February to June, 2007)
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Stage 2: July - September 2007 (7 months)
•
Locate and recruit the participants for this project through friends and acquaintances
•
Discuss idea of the project at first meeting with each of the participants to make sure of their
levels of comfort with project and idea of their portraits being included in my Masters exhibition
•
Call the participants to arrange to email or post the plain language statement that outlines details
of the project and explain what they are required to do
•
Give consent forms to each of the participants to sign to gain their consent for inclusion in the
project. Give participants a timeline so that they are aware of the time required for their
participation in the project
•
Follow this up with an informal meeting with each of the participants where I will briefly
photograph them, so that I can decipher whether or not they are appropriate for the project and
they can decide whether they want to continue their involvement
•
Decide on the final participants and commence the project once they have agreed to participate
and signed the consent form
•
Research physical layout of Carlisle Street, visual and depictions of the surrounding area
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Stage 3: September - October 2007
•
Send out plain language statement and consent forms to discuss, read and sign
•
Do a practice shoot of the participants, and their surroundings in the street
•
Analyse the photographs making sure they are all appropriate for the project
•
Send out project descriptions and timelines of when the subjects will be required
•
Organise interview-photographing dates
•
Photograph participants
•
Capture all footage
•
Work with audio and images of interviews
•
Process film and scan negatives
•
Organise exhibition space for final exhibition
•
Ongoing research into Jewish iconography, signs and symbols in food and artefacts
Stage 4: October 2007 – February 2008
•
Continue work on photographs with emphasis on the lateral expressions of Jewish rituals in the
face of globalisation and food as a symbol of the acceptance of migration
•
Commence work on ADR
•
Commence printing
•
Work on feedback from participants
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Stage 5: March - June 2008
•
Design invitations for both email and card dissemination
•
Write press release
•
Do mail-out for the show
•
Collate all information and work to produce a catalogue
•
Get photographs printed
•
Hire necessary equipment for the exhibition
•
ADR ready for examiners
•
Exhibition date to be confirmed
•
Have work professionally documented
Submission of Masters project: end of June 2008.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Arbus, D. (2003) Revelations, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Random House Inc.: New York
Barthes, R. (2000) Camera Lucida, Vintage Press, Random House: London
Batrouney, T. & Goldlust, J. (2005) Unravelling Identity: Immigrants, Identity and Citizenship, in Australia,
Common Ground Publishing: Melbourne
Berger, J. (2005) And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos, Bloomsbury Press: London
Berger, J. (2001) Selected Essays, Bloomsbury Press: London
Booth, C.W. Colomb G.G. & Williams J.M. (1995) The Craft of Research, University of Chicago Press:
Chicago
Brenner, F. (2003) Diaspora: homelands in exile voices and photographs, Harper Collins: New York
Brenner, F. (1998) exile at home, Harry N Abrams, Inc. Publishers: New York
16
Brenner, F. (1996) jews / america / a representation, Harry N Abrams, Inc. Publishers: New York
Brougher, K. (1997) Jeff Wall, The Museum of Contemporary Art: Los Angeles and Scalo: Zurich
Carter, P. (2004) Material Thinking: the theory and practice of creative research,
University of Melbourne Press: Melbourne
Crombie, I. (2004) Body Culture – Max Dupain, Photography and Australian Culture, NGV: Melbourne
Dean, T. & Millar, J. (2001) Place, Thames and Hudson: London
Denning, G. (1998) Readings/Writings, The University of Melbourne Press: Melbourne
Derrida, J. (1982) Difference, Margins of Philosophy, The University of Chicago Press:
Chicago
Ennis, H. (2005) Margaret Michaelis – love, loss and photography, National Gallery of Australia:
Canberra
Evans, W. (1998) Signs, Thames and Hudson: London
17
Fagenblat, M., Landau, M. & Wolski, N. (2006) New Under the Sun, Jewish Australians on Religion,
Politics and Culture, Black Inc.: Melbourne
Folla, V. (2004) Faces in the Crowd, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Whitechapel: London
Francisco, J. (2006) Far From Zion Jews, Diaspora, Memory, Stanford University Press: Palo Alto
Greenough, S. & Brookman, P. (1994) Robert Frank, National Gallery of Art: Washington
Henson, B. (2005) Mnemosyne, Art Gallery of NSW, Scalo: Zurich, Berlin & New York
Kaplan, L. (2004) “What Is Represented Is What Is At Stake: Frederic Brenner on jews / america / a
representation, The New Centennial Review; Spring 2004; Vol. No.4. 1, p.95, Michigan State University
Press: East Lansing
Kaplan, L. (2005) American Exposures, Photography and Community in the Twentieth Century,
University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis
Kocur, Z. & Leung, S. (2005) Theories in Contemporary Art since 1985, Blackwell Publishing: Oxford
Lippard, L. (1997) The Lure of the Local: A Sense of Place in Multicultural Society, The New Press:
New York
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Mannur, A. & Braziel, J.E.(2003) Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader, Blackwell Publishing: New York
Marien, W. M. (2002) Photography A Cultural History, Laurence King Publishing: London
Marsh, A. (2003) The Darkroom- Photography and the Theatre of Desire, Macmillan: Melbourne
McAuliffe, C. (1996) Art and Suburbia, Craftsman House: Sydney
Patton, P. & Smith T. (Eds.) (2001), Jacques Derrida Deconstruction Engaged, The Sydney Seminars,
Power Publications: Sydney
Rubinstein, H. (1987) Chosen - The Jews in Australia, Allen and Unwin: Sydney
Rutland, S. (2005) The Jews in Australia, Cambridge University Press: Melbourne
Santos, E. (2003) Observances, Photographs by Emmanuel Santos. Jewish Museum of Australia:
Melbourne
Schama, S. (2004) Hang-Ups Essays on Painting (mostly), BBC Books: London
19
Sheffer, G. (2005) “ Is the Jewish Diaspora Unique? Reflections on the Diaspora’s Current Situation,”
Israel Studies, Vol10.1 (2005) p 1-35
Sheffer, G. (2003) Diaspora Politics, At Home Abroad, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge
Sommer, F. & Conkelton, S. (1995) Frederick Sommer: selected texts and bibliography, ABC Clio Press:
Oxford
Sontag, S. (2003) Where the Stress Falls - Essays, Vintage Press: London
Sontag, S, (1973) On Photography, Dell Publishing: New York
Spence, J. (1995) Cultural Snipping – The Art of Transgression, Routledge: London
Stillers, K. & Selz P. (Ed.) (1996) Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art, University of California
Press: London
Sultan, L. (1992) Pictures From Home, Harry Abrams: New York
Sussman, E. (1992) Nan Goldin – I Will Be Your Mirror, Whitney Museum of American Art, Scalo: Berlin
20
Vishniac, M. (Ed.) (1999) Roman Vishniac: Children of a Vanished World, University of California Press:
Berkeley
Vishniac, R. (1983) A Vanished World, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux: New York
Weski, T., & Liesbrock H. (Eds.), (2000) How You Look At It- Photographs of the 20th Century, Thames &
Hudson: London
Yule, P. (2004) Carlton: A History, Melbourne University Press: Melbourne
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
All photographs printed on Ilford Smooth Pearl, 290 gsm.
BATCH Crossings and Intersections (series of 7 photographs)
35 - 36
Yossi, Yaacov and Michal Klein
2006 - 2008
Photographs
Dimensions variable
SIMSON EXTERIORS - optometrists (series of 5 photographs)
37 - 38
Brinah and Sean Simson
2006 - 2007
Photographs
Dimensions variable
SIMSON INTERIORS - optometrists (series of 5 photographs)
39 - 40
Brinah and Sean Simson
2008
Photographs
Dimensions variable
22
JOSIES Opportunity Shop- past lives (series of 8 photographs)
41 - 43
Josies Charitable Trust run by volunteers
2007-2008
Photographs
Dimensions variable
FLOWERS FROM GAN EDEN (series of 6 photographs)
44 - 46
Leah Benzur
2007 - 2008
Photographs
Dimensions variable
THE MAZELTOV BOOK & GIFT SHOP (Series of 13 photographs)
47 - 50
Jacob Legarda
2007 - 2008
Photographs
Variable dimensions
23
HUDSON (series of 5 photographs)
51 - 52
Nikki Hall
2007 - 2008
Photographs
Variable dimensions
SHOE REPAIRS, 290 Carlisle Street (series of 4 photographs)
53 - 54
Serge
2007 - 2008
Photographs
Variable dimensions
Photographs that have been made in the process of research
55 - 60
Various locations on Carlisle Street (series of 21 photographs)
2007 - 2008
Photographs
Variable dimensions
Support documentation of project by Cathy Henenberg (2008)
61
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CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
2006 - 2008
MASTER OF ARTS
SCHOOL OF ART
DESIGN AND SOCIAL CONTEXT
RMIT UNIVERSITY
2005
HONOURS DEGREE (MEDIA ARTS)
SCHOOL OF ART & CULTURE
RMIT UNIVERSITY
25
2003 - 2004
BACHELOR OF ARTS (MEDIA ARTS)
SCHOOL OF ART & CULTURE
RMIT UNIVERSITY
1999 - 2002
DIPLOMA OF ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIES COLLEGE
AWARDED BOND IMAGING PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE
1964 - 1968
DIPLOMA OF SOCIAL STUDIES
(SOCIAL WORK)
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
26
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2006
THE FABRIC OF MEMORY
Volunteers, Survivors, and Descendants
JEWISH HOLOCAUST MUSEUM and RESEARCH, MELBOURNE
(February 26 - May 5)
2005
CARLISLE STREET/a diversity of belonging
JEWISH MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA, MELBOURNE
(September 4 – October 2)
27
2004
CROWDS AND CLOUDS
A collaborative exhibition with Chrissy Gant
Contemplation-Rhythm-Formation-Introspection
FIRST SITE, RMIT UNION GALLERY, MELBOURNE
(June 2 – 12)
28
2004
THE ECHO OF SHRINKING SPACES
A journey with my father experiencing dementia.
JEWISH MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA, MELBOURNE
(April 25 – May 16)
2004
EVANESCENCE
A meditation on a moment fading.
GOLD STREET STUDIOS, MELBOURNE
(March 31 – May 2)
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GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2006
UN URBAN
Group Exhibition of Honours Students of 2006
Fine Art Photography, RMIT School of Art
McCULLOCH GALLERY, MELBOURNE
(March 27 - April 16)
2005
INKED
Works on Paper by the artists of
The Baldessin Press & Pharos Editions
THE LONG GALLERY, MONTSALVAT, MELBOURNE
(August 2 – September 12)
2004
BETWEEN HERE AND NOW
Graduate Media Arts Photo-Media Exhibition
SMYRNIOS GALLERY, MELBOURNE
(October 26 – November 6)
30
2004
FORGET ME NOT
RMIT School of Art students
Alzheimer’s’ Association of Australia (VIC), for Dementia Week
DOMAIN HOUSE, MELBOURNE
(September 18 – 28)
2003
PULSE 2003
FIRST YEAR MEDIA ARTS Fine Arts Imaging Group Exhibition
THE ARTERY, MELBOURNE
(November 7 – 14)
2003
CONFLICT
LACUNA, MELBOURNE
artist run space
Patrick Nicolaci, Brett Cappello & Shoshanna Jordan
Concurrently exhibited as part of TRAM STOP
Sydney Road, Brunswick
(October 2 – 9)
31
2003
STUDENT of the YEAR
Travelling Exhibition
ROYAL ARCADE, MELBOURNE
(January 2003)
2002
PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIES COLLEGE, MELBOURNE
Graduate Exhibition
(December 2002)
32
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACEPT), Melbourne
Two images, Birds & Skies series
Aurora Spa, Melbourne
Three images, Birds & Skies series
Israel – Private Collections
USA - Private Collections
33
PUBLICATIONS
Ashton R. (Ed.), (2004)Tarkine
Allen & Unwin, Sydney
Upton, G. (2001) The George. St Kilda Life and Times
Venus Bay Books, Melbourne
34