NCSU Jewish Studies program: Film showing and Discussion with Professor Beth Holmgren – “Raise the Roof.”

NCSU Jewish Studies program
Film showing and Discussion with Professor Beth Holmgren – “Raise the Roof.”
Movie screening of “Raise the Roof”, a feature documentary by Yari & Cary Wolinsky 2015, USA, 85min

Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Time:  5:30-7:30 pm
Place: Park Shops 200

Please join us afterwards for a discussion of the film and the presentation of other volunteer projects of restoration of cemeteries and synagogues in Poland and Ukraine.

With Prof. Beth Holmgren (Institute for Slavic & Eurasian Studies, Duke University)

Rivaling the greatest wooden architecture in history, the synagogues of 18th-century Poland inspired artists Rick and Laura Brown of Handshouse Studio to embark on a 10-year pursuit—to reconstruct the elaborate roof and painted ceiling of the Gwoździec synagogue. Leading over 300 students and professionals from 16 countries, the Browns grapple not just with the echoes of World War II when these buildings were destroyed by the Nazis, but also with warped timbers, tricky paints, and period hand tools. By the end of the project, they have done more than reconstruct a lost synagogue: they have recovered a lost world. The Gwoździec roof was unveiled in 2014 as the centerpiece of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. http://www.polishsynagogue.com/​​​​​​​