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Salle de presse
Jewish Community Represented in Canadian Quilt When it is completed, Invitation, The Quilt of Belonging will be 120 feet long and represent 192 ethnic and 71 aboriginal groups in Canada. Each community was invited to volunteer to handmake an 11-inch diamond-shaped block, symbolizing their culture or roots. Although this is a textile-art project, few restrictions were placed on what could be used to make a block, other than that it involve needlework and be permanent. The goal is to create a communal "patchwork" that celebrates Canada's diversity and promotes understanding among its many peoples. The Invitation project, which was started six years ago, is based in Williamstown, Ont., near Alexandria, just across the border from Quebec. It's co-ordinated by local visual artist Esther Bryan, who was born in France to an American mother and Slovak father. The quilt has its national launch on April 1 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que., where it will remain in the Grand Hall for 10 days. The quilt then tours every province and the Arctic over the next four or five years, and possibly then goes on to Europe. The Jewish community is represented by an Israel block, created by former Montrealer Chloe Fox, who lives in the village of Apple Hill near Williamstown. It is based on God's promise in Deuteronomy that the land of Israel will be one of wheat, barley, grape vines, fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey. Fox has richly embroidered each of the Seven Species on a circle of blue velvet, chosen because it is a typical fabric for kippot, tallit bags and Torah covers. The circle is edged by a double row of golden thread reminiscent of a type of embroidery brought to Israel by Yemenite Jews. In the centre is a circular inset of parchment with the biblical passage written in Hebrew by Montreal calligrapher Jamie Shear. The whole is mounted on white linen. "Seven is a significant number that recurs in Jewish beliefs and these 'fruits of the land,' which were among the staple foods consumed during ancient times, are a sign of the abundance of riches found in Israel," Fox said. "Today the Seven Species continue to dominate large areas of the countryside, maintaining a link between the ancient land of Israel and the modern state." The Seven Species are also a frequent theme in ornamental and ritual art, and are used to decorate sukkot, she said. "I think it's a powerful symbol of Israel without being political. We wanted to avoid stars and menorahs," she said. Fox said she consulted with a number of people on the block, including Israeli native Chava Dienar, her sister-in-law and artist Honey Fox-Moscowitz and her daughter Sari Walker, as well as her own daughter Sivan Fox and daughter-in-law Francine Cytrynbaum. Fox is not an artist, but she enjoys doing all types of handiwork. The design for the Seven Species was made by Bryan in watercolour and Fox matched it as closely as she could in embroidery. It took her a year to complete. Invitation, The Quilt of Belonging exhibition will include an accompanying text about each community and the techniques used by the blockmaker. In conjunction with the launch in April, a 300-page coffee-table book, with colour photos of the blocks and their makers and descriptions of the communities the blocks represent, will be published. A French version is to follow. The blocks and some of the text can already be viewed on the project's website, www.invitationproject.ca. The Israel description notes that although the modern State of Israel was only formed in 1948, Jews first settled in Canada in the 18th century. It lists some Jewish Canadians who have made major contributions in their field, such as Mordecai Richler and Leonard Cohen in literature, Lorne Greene and Wayne and Shuster in the performing arts, and the Bronfmans, Reichmanns and Steinbergs in the economic sphere. A 64-page children's book is also scheduled to be published in 2006. Fox is among the hundreds of volunteers who are helping to stitch together the 263 blocks at the Williamstown studio. The quilt-in-progress was on display there until the end of January, and is now headed to the Museum of Civilization in preparation for the exhibition. Fox has been living in Apple Hill with her husband Abraham, a retired Marianopolis College teacher, for six years. Known for writing vegetarian cookbooks, Fox said she is awed by the talent of the people she is working with, many of whom have brought traditional skills to the task. The term "textile" has been given the broadest definition, and Fox said you can find everything from sealskin to banana leaves woven in to the blocks.
After the museum exhibit, the quilt will be on display in Cornwall, Ont., at NAV Canada from April 23 to 30. It will then be featured at the 10th annual Waterloo County and Area Quilt Festival, whose theme this year is world peace.
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