Legacies of Silence

This book, which accompanied an exhibition at the Barbican Gallery, London, examines the contribution of artist-witnesses and survivors of the Holocaust to post-war culture, music, literature, theatre and the visual arts. A selection of the graphic works produced in internment, in ghettos, transit and concentration camps between 1939 and 1945 makes up the exhibition's core. The majority of these come from collections in Eastern Europe and Israel. These works are considered alongside artistic precursors and contemporary sources, principally from major collections in the European Community. The book and exhibition seek to re-establish the legitimacy of these works within the narratives of 20th century art history and the expanding field of Holocaust studies. The post-war achievements of a number of artist-survivors is also discussed. Surprisingly, for art produced in the absence of all contacts with the outside world, the art of internment reveals an unusual awareness of visual and iconographic sources and provides a point of entry to a discussion of representational strategies and artistic intention. The discussion leads into a comparison of the drawings with personal testimonies and works of literature, combining original archival research with extensive use of secondary sources.