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    Photography Final project

    Maayan Abiri

    Unpolished Memories

    During World War II, Sonia was torn from her family and parted from her childhood. When she was thirteen years old, her world collapsed, and she endured an inhuman journey. The vestiges that remained were buried in her memory and heart, and she donned a mask hiding the trauma. With the discovery of her story, which had not been told until now, a new world of fantasy emerges. The story takes place in a forest, and in it, fairies’ enchantment faces the dark magic of witches. In a parallel universe, tales of life in the Polish woods are recalled. The project draws inspiration from Polish folklore and builds a fantastic reality, an escapist mechanism for dealing with trauma. Medieval stories evolved over the generations and became folklore. They had a moral and educational function. The telling of stories encompasses an encounter of solidarity among people who wished to preserve the memory and pass it on to the next generation. Sonia passes on private narratives of her childhood, just as in the past beliefs and stories were passed on to bolster personal and traditional identities. With the opening of the Pandora Box where the memories are buried, trauma rises. The interpretation of the present in conjunction with the concrete past and Polish folklore suggests living with the demons instead of chasing them away.

    Design Performance Photography Sustainable Bezalel Award

    Additional Options:

    Tal Yagodovsky

    Guy Ahouvi

    Einat Greenberger

    Yael Mordechay

    Yasmin Tepper