Holocaust Remembrance Day May 1, 2011

The Contemporary Jewish Museum hosts San Francisco’s free community commemoration for Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah), with free admission, tours, ceremonies, readings and music, as well as free activities for families and teens.

Hourly public tours of the new exhibition Charlotte Salomon: Life? Or Theatre? take place on the hour every hour that day starting at 11 AM with a special 3 PM tour specifically for teens. Salomon, a young German Jewish artist, feverishly painted the story of her life before she was sent to Auschwitz and killed at the age of 26.

Visitors can also watch artist Rita Blitt’s new 9-minute film Collaboration with the Past, shown continuously throughout the day. This world premiere multi-media work features music by composer Pavel Haas, who died at Auschwitz, and echoes the musically inspired paintings of Charlotte Salomon. From 2-3 PM, Blitt will be in conversation with longtime California Symphony Music Director Barry Jekowsky, discussing the role of music in nourishing community, as well as the complexities of connecting music to painting and other forms.

From 1-3 PM, families can enjoy making tissue-paper collages inspired by the poems written by children living at Terezin concentration camp during World War II, and teens can take a workshop at 3 PM on Charlotte Salomon and her work.

The Jewish Family and Childrens’ Services Holocaust Center leads a community commemoration service from 4-6 PM.

Presented in partnership with The Jewish Family and Childrens’ Services Holocaust Center; Jewish Community Relations Council; and Lehrhaus Judaica.

TIME: 11-5 PM (with a special commemoration service from 4-6 PM)