I am a performance and video artist. My work is informed by my family history, being the child of Holocaust survivors, and the impact of my parents’ repeated stories of their war-time experiences. I dress up and perform a variety of personas that comment on family memoirs, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and my concern with the continuing presence of anti-Semitism.

 

The videos included in this exhibition perform a number of functions. They acknowledge my parents who are survivors of Auschwitz and at the same time honour the memory of all those that perished. And finally, they serve as a visual caution on the dangers of prejudice.

 

Two videos, Just an Ordinary Peasant and Whistle While You Work, are based on specific events my uncle and mother experienced during their time in the camps. The third video, Dance of Hope  represents my parents’ courage and good fortune that enabled them to create a fulfilling life for themselves in Australia.

 

BIOGRAPHY

 

Jane Korman was born in Melbourne, Australia, the daughter of Holocaust survivors. After completing a Bachelor of Graphic Design at RMIT, she and her young family moved to Israel in the 1980s where they lived on a Yemenite village outside Jerusalem and ran a studio producing specialised illuminated manuscripts. They returned to Australia after 18 years, where Jane branched into performance and video art. Jane has exhibited both locally (NGV, West Space Gallery, Kings Ari Gallery, Adelaide Fringe Festival) and internationally. In 2010 she received the Victorian Council Award. That same year her video piece, Dancing Auschwitz, won the People’s Choice award at the DokumentART Film Festival in Germany and Poland.

 

She recently exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, and is currently exhibiting at the Centre for Persecuted Arts in Solingen, Germany. In 2015 Jane completed a Masters of Fine Art at Monash University, Melbourne.