На Всякий Случай Project by Valerie Zimmer

About Event

After six weeks on display at the prestigious Harriman Institute at Columbia University, Valerie Zimmer’s powerful photographic exhibit, Just in Case | На Всякий Случай will come to the JCC Manhattan for one night only on Thursday, May 31, 7pm for a closing celebration and reception.

Please join Valerie and other RSJ’s for a closing reception in celebration of Just In Case | На Всякий Случай. In English. All are welcome.

Register  here

Just in Case | На Всякий Случай is a series of photographs that explores the narrative of Russian-speaking Jewish immigrants through objects they brought with them.

The series of photo essays spotlights Russian-speaking Jewish immigrants and the possessions they’ve carried with them through their immigration journey and beyond. The project examines why we are so often attached to physical things. Do objects provide comfort to us through times of great change, stress, trauma? Are they little time capsules that not only remind us of the past, but also give us hope that someone in the future will remember us? Do we simply convince ourselves that they are indispensable because they will serve a utilitarian purpose or were difficult to procure?

Through the exhibit, Zimmer shows that once people start talking about physical objects, their personal immigration stories start to emerge. The personal possessions are the common thread that binds all immigrants, regardless of origins or cultures. Zimmer observes that there is always a hesitance to embrace a different person from another culture. “If we can minimize that by telling our stories to bridge the gaps in our understanding of foreign cultures and to build on an anthropological study of the immigrant experience, our community will be all the better for it”, she believes. Her exhibition Just in Case | На Всякий Случай does just that.

This project is created as part of COJECO BluePrint Fellowship supported by COJECO and Genesis Philanthropy Group.