The Katz Family Mainstreet Gallery at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta is hosting an exhibit titled “A Journey Through Time: Works of the American Guild of Judaic Art.” It features 28 artists from around the world. Two of the artists, Miriam Karp and Laurie Wohl, joined Lois Reitzes on “City Lights.”
Karp, who lives in Atlanta, creates custom made ketubahs or marriage contracts. Originally, ketubahs gave married women property rights in the case of their husbands death. But Karp has put her own spin on an almost 3000-year-old tradition.
“I was doing a custom ketubah for a couple. The bride was from Kansas and the groom was from Morocco. And it was a very interesting ketubah to do because he felt that his culture was a lot richer than her culture was. So there was a little bit of a tug-o-war on what we were going to put on the ketubah,” Karp explained. “So I took Moroccan color of tiles and did a tile a pattern that incorporated sunflowers from Kansas.”
Wohl is internationally acclaimed for her trademarked Unweaving pieces. She describes Unweaving as taking a piece of canvas and one-by-one, taking out threads to make different shapes. She said her pieces are interfaith.
“I do think the primary educational goal of what I do with ‘Birds of Longing: Exile and Memory’ project is to help Christians and Jews understand Islam, first and foremost,” Wohl said.
