In Search of a Lost Childhood

Abstract

Abstract Sigalit Landau is an internationally recognised artist born in Jerusalem whose works have been exhibited in major museums worldwide. This article seeks to analyse the sculpture Father and Tufik (2014), in which the artist relates for the first time to the story of her father, a Holocaust survivor from Transnistria. Starting with the creative process that led to the sculpture and examining unpublished sketches, the study shows how the work involves a multigenerational tale and a desire for communication and transmission which is further developed in a series of large-sized sculptures. Furthermore, elements of play, which Ernst van Alphen identifies as a means used by younger generations of artists to confront Holocaust remembrance, can be found in this sculpture and in other key works including Barbed Hula (2000) and One Man's Floor Is Another Man's Feelings (2011) which can thus be interpreted in the context of the Shoah.