Weeks ago, FENTSTER planned a celebration of Mindy Stricke’s original installation created for our window gallery, Fringes – a new work which maps the experience of her daughter, Noa, becoming a bat mitzvah. Our gathering was envisioned as an opportunity to lift up the themes of the exhibition: radical acceptance and navigating transitional times filled with change, uncertainty and awkwardness.
In this moment of profound communal uncertainty and challenge, we’ve reimagined the afternoon of welcoming the debut presentation of Fringes as a “kumzitz” (literally: “come sit”) – a chance to pull up a seat and join in song, like Stricke’s family did when they celebrated Noa’s bat mitzvah with a sing-along. Taking up a classic b’nei mitzvah tradition, there will also be a candle lighting ceremony with three generations of women in the artist’s family, inviting all gathered to reflect on and honour their journeys of feeling in-between.
Presented by FENTSTER together with Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism and LGBTQ+ at the J
CONNECTED TO FRINGES, FENTSTER IS COLLECTING YOUR BAT / BAR MITZVAH PHOTOS OR PICS FROM WHEN YOU WERE THIRTEEN.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Fringes is a new work where multidisciplinary artist Mindy Stricke maps the celebration of her daughter, Noa, becoming a bat mitzvah. This milestone became an expedition for Stricke towards radical acceptance – of her daughter, and ultimately, of herself. The artist creates a wearable map in the form of an evocative tallit (a Jewish prayer shawl with fringes on each corner) as a gift for Noa, which marks her place in the city where she became a bat mitzvah and within her lineage.
