In 2019, Archibald prize-winning artist Wendy Sharpe visited Kamianets-Podilskyi with her cousin Ruth Fishman to learn more about their family history. An organisation specialising in Eastern European Jewish family research organised guides for Wendy and Ruth in the Ukraine and provided documents shedding light on where the family had lived and what their lives might have been like.
During the trip, Wendy made sketches, drawings and paintings in notebooks, reference materials which she would later transform into a continuous mural at the Sydney Jewish Museum.
In 2019, Archibald prize-winning artist Wendy Sharpe visited Kamianets-Podilskyi with her cousin Ruth Fishman to learn more about their family history. An organisation specialising in Eastern European Jewish family research organised guides for Wendy and Ruth in the Ukraine and provided documents shedding light on where the family had lived and what their lives might have been like.
During the trip, Wendy made sketches, drawings and paintings in notebooks, reference materials which she would later transform into a continuous mural at the Sydney Jewish Museum.
In July 2021, Wendy set about painting 40 metres of empty wall space with a mural of memories from her journey to Kamianets-Podilskyi, and what she learned about her family history. The artist says, “A mural is a great cinematographic way of telling a story, where one scene merges or leads into the next.”
In July 2021, Wendy set about painting 40 metres of empty wall space with a mural of memories from her journey to Kamianets-Podilskyi, and what she learned about her family history. The artist says, “A mural is a great cinematographic way of telling a story, where one scene merges or leads into the next.”
Kamianets-Podilskyi has a dark history, extending beyond the early 20th century pogroms. The town was the site of the August 1941 massacre where the Nazis murdered 23,000 Jews on the outskirts of the city.
Kamianets-Podilskyi has a dark history, extending beyond the early 20th century pogroms. The town was the site of the August 1941 massacre where the Nazis murdered 23,000 Jews on the outskirts of the city.
The artist discovered that her grandmother used to sing a song in Yiddish and Russian – Vu iz dos Gesele (Where is the Little Street)? The song became her connection to her grandmother, though she never met her. The lyrics capture the loss and longing so central to the Jewish experience, yet it also resonates with many displaced people.
The artist discovered that her grandmother used to sing a song in Yiddish and Russian – Vu iz dos Gesele (Where is the Little Street)? The song became her connection to her grandmother, though she never met her. The lyrics capture the loss and longing so central to the Jewish experience, yet it also resonates with many displaced people.
The ephemeral nature of wall paintings references places and a time that no longer exist – as does the folksong and title of the exhibition, Vu iz dos Gesele (Where is the Little Street)?
Yet as soon as the walls were ready for the charcoal and paint, Sydney was cast into a sudden lockdown which prevented the public from being able to view the mural. The mural was always destined to be painted over but it was always intended to be seen. At the end of August 2021, the mural was painted over, unseen by the public in person. All that is left is a memory.
The ephemeral nature of wall paintings references places and a time that no longer exist – as does the folksong and title of the exhibition, Vu iz dos Gesele (Where is the Little Street)?
Yet as soon as the walls were ready for the charcoal and paint, Sydney was cast into a sudden lockdown which prevented the public from being able to view the mural. The mural was always destined to be painted over but it was always intended to be seen. At the end of August 2021, the mural was painted over, unseen by the public in person. All that is left is a memory.
“I’m drawing, sketching and painting. I’m trying to use every kind of language, such as realism, expressionism, symbolism. I’m using vibrant fluorescent colours and soft, muted washes of paint; some aspects are from my imagination; others relate to something specific.” – Wendy Sharpe
“I’m drawing, sketching and painting. I’m trying to use every kind of language, such as realism, expressionism, symbolism. I’m using vibrant fluorescent colours and soft, muted washes of paint; some aspects are from my imagination; others relate to something specific.” – Wendy Sharpe
“This is my grandmother Bessie whom I’ve never met. I’m painting her with a wistful expression, as in her photograph. I feel a strong emotion painting my grandmother. She died in her 50s in the 1950s. If I could go back in time, I would love to meet her.”
“This is my grandmother Bessie whom I’ve never met. I’m painting her with a wistful expression, as in her photograph. I feel a strong emotion painting my grandmother. She died in her 50s in the 1950s. If I could go back in time, I would love to meet her.”
“When I visited the cemetery in London’s East End, I found a few stones on my grandmother’s tombstone. I wonder if my father had left them there the last time he went to pay his respects, as a sign that he had been there?“
“When I visited the cemetery in London’s East End, I found a few stones on my grandmother’s tombstone. I wonder if my father had left them there the last time he went to pay his respects, as a sign that he had been there?“
“We found a town which currently saw few outsiders and still seemed pretty unfriendly to Jews. We drank coffee in a café in Yampol, on the Dnister River, where the proprietor, on being told who we were, spat the word ‘Jewish’ contemptuously and told our guide there was a Cossack Museum nearby!”– Ruth Fishman
“We found a town which currently saw few outsiders and still seemed pretty unfriendly to Jews. We drank coffee in a café in Yampol, on the Dnister River, where the proprietor, on being told who we were, spat the word ‘Jewish’ contemptuously and told our guide there was a Cossack Museum nearby!”– Ruth Fishman
On a hillside above the river, Wendy and Ruth came upon a neglected Jewish burial site. There had been a Holocaust in Yampol too. It seems that although evidence of Jewish life is still to be found in archives, museums, often disguised Orthodox synagogues, in the streets, towns and cities, Ruth reflects:
“There are only shadows and half-remembered stories of our ancestors who had lived, worked, worshipped and been part of the fabric of the country. We felt like ghosts there or the inheritors of a forgotten legend.”
On a hillside above the river, Wendy and Ruth came upon a neglected Jewish burial site. There had been a Holocaust in Yampol too. It seems that although evidence of Jewish life is still to be found in archives, museums, often disguised Orthodox synagogues, in the streets, towns and cities, Ruth reflects:
“There are only shadows and half-remembered stories of our ancestors who had lived, worked, worshipped and been part of the fabric of the country. We felt like ghosts there or the inheritors of a forgotten legend.”
Once in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Wendy and Ruth learned of the different nationalities that had lived there, the religions that had been practised, the occupying armies that had taken control throughout its history, and how Jews had been an integral part of the story. Kamianets-Podilskyi has grown into a tourist destination, allowing Jews to reconnect with their ancestral homeland.
A small Jewish community lives in the city today, however there’s little evidence of them.
Once in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Wendy and Ruth learned of the different nationalities that had lived there, the religions that had been practised, the occupying armies that had taken control throughout its history, and how Jews had been an integral part of the story. Kamianets-Podilskyi has grown into a tourist destination, allowing Jews to reconnect with their ancestral homeland.
A small Jewish community lives in the city today, however there’s little evidence of them.
“After months of planning and preparation, the mural was completed in seven days. It’s been an emotional journey for me, as my Jewish identity is very much a part of who I am.“
“After months of planning and preparation, the mural was completed in seven days. It’s been an emotional journey for me, as my Jewish identity is very much a part of who I am.“
Click on the images below to explore Wendy's story and mural.
