{"id":6173,"date":"2026-06-25T16:07:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museejuifmontreal.ca\/?post_type=mjm_exhibition&p=6173"},"modified":"2026-10-01T15:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T19:46:10","slug":"nabatele","status":"publish","type":"mjm_exhibition","link":"https:\/\/museejuifmontreal.ca\/en\/exhibition\/nabatele\/","title":{"rendered":"Nabatele"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nabatele’s public presentation concluded on September 16, 2026.<\/p>\n

Learn about the history of synagogues in Italy, Montreal, and the former Pale of Settlement by scrolling to the Synagogue Stories below.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

Nabatele<\/span><\/a> is a large-scale open-air installation by London-based architect and artist Anna Kamyshan. Set upon a massive rock floating over the Venetian lagoon, a synagogue appears in the sky, exposed to atmospheric forces. Rather than holding \u00a0land, it inhabits airspace, remaining responsive to its environment. The work recalls Ren\u00e9 Magritte\u2019s “The Castle of the Pyrenees,”\u00a0a stone levitating above the sea crowned by a castle which is often read as hope without ground.

Responding to contemporary global uncertainty marked by conflict and displacement, Nabatele frames refuge as provisional rather than secure. Its suspended condition, unrooted yet stable, is sustained by a steady inner glow reminiscent of the Ner Tamid, the synagogue\u2019s eternal light, reflecting the artist\u2019s layered identity as Ukrainian with Jewish and Russian heritage.

The Yiddish diminutive -ele softens nabat \u2013 a word spanning Slavic and Semitic languages \u2013 shifting it from warning to quiet presence. Referencing lost wooden synagogues of Eastern European shtetls and the non-territorial idea of Yiddishland, the work evokes continuity through memory and transmission rather than land. In dialogue with Venice\u2019s Ghetto history, Nabatele exists neither as monument nor memorial, but as a gentle presence that holds unresolved belonging without claiming permanence.

\u2013 Yevgeniy Fiks and Maria Veits (Curators)<\/p>\n

Visit the official Nabatele website.<\/span><\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n

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