Jewish communities in Latin America share a rich and noble culture. And it is the very efforts of Stephen Sadow, a professor of Spanish and Latin American literature at the Northeastern University, that fourteen “artist’s books” which consists of some captivating poems and magnificent artwork characterize the essence of these communities.
Sadow, with his Argentinian colleagues, selected 14 poems. He asked fourteen Jewish artists to interpret and analyse a poem each and create a unique piece of art with their own opinions and interpretations. Thus, the book was made. It was handmade in Buenos Aires, where each copy consists of the poems in Spanish and its English translation made by Sadow and his co-translator. The writers and the designers have made sure to include the Jewish Identity, Old Testament Themes, the holocaust, and the terrible consequences of the 1994 bombings over the Jewish Community. It was a successful attempt as the artist was able to bring about the essence of the Jews and the art and culture that belong to them.
The work of Sadow involves scholarly articles and literary translations of the Latin American Jewish culture. They are specifically trilingual anthologies as they are translated in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. His attempt is to discover and promote the lost and ignored culture of around 400,000 Jews that has been hidden away among the fragments in Latin America. His “open source” anthology brings together the work of 13 Latin American Jewish products and also includes his and his colleague’s translations of those poems into Spanish.
He desires his work to be read and known in Latin America. He wants the people to respect the culture that is rich, magnificent, and glorious in nature. In an attempt of illuminating the obscure Jewish culture, he quotes, “I want these poets to read each other’s poetry and the public to realize this kind of cultural work is being done throughout Latin America.”
Akshara Palshetkar
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