Maiseh | Stefanie Oberhoff | Pigeon Girls | 31st JCF

Stefanie Oberhoff & Snuff Puppets - Pigeon Girls

Workshop & participatory performance in collaboration with: Monika Krawczyk, Aneta Kowal, Korali choir
Women turn into birds, their tears into daisies. In the face of war, they choose metamorphosis. Collective grief transforms their appearance. The streets are filled with the songs of crying birds and flower children.
legends: According to Ukrainian legend, after losing her beloved to the war, a young girl, transformed by grief, turned into a cuckoo, and continued to fly around, crying for her husband. From the tears of a Ukrainian mother who lost her three sons to the war, small white flowers – daisies – grew underneath the melting snow.

When it is hard to find the words, we tell stories.
In “Maiseh”, which is the Yiddish word for tale (מייסע), seven legends were told in the public space. These stories are vehicles to grapple with loss, misfortune, betrayal and broken hearts. They arm us with humor, hope, courage and love. They bring us together.
Traditionally passed on orally, legends were told over a meal or next to the campfire in almost all known human societies. The act of passing on stories shapes communities, which in turn come up with more tales to tell. Whether it is about a restless phantom roaming the streets, a hidden treasure or the guardian of an ancient synagogue – a “maiseh” usually contains few characters, simple dialogues, and nothing more than a superficial reference to an actual person, geographical location or historical event. These stories are simple and imaginative, sometimes fragmented, confusing or obscure.
During the 31. Jewish Culture Festival artists from Israel, Germany and Poland told their version of legends from Krakow in the medium of their choosing. Tales and legends transform as they are shared, slightly altered by the storyteller each time they are told. It is in the nature of the story to be adapted.
Shaped as performances, drawings, murals, sound installations, workshops, and letters, the stories of “Maiseh” unfold in the streets of Kazimierz.

MAISEH WAS CREATED ESPECIALLY FOR THE 31ST JEWISH CULTURE FESTIVAL IN KRAKOW
Curatorial team: Yael Sherill, Lianne Mol & Julia Kawka – Curatorial Collective for Public Art / Berlin, Meydad Eliyahu – HaMiffal / Jerusalem, Paweł Kowalewski – Jewish Culture Festival / Kraków

Video: Julia Kawka
Music: Korali choir