Exhibition

A Father’s Kaddish

11 May 2024 – 18 Aug 2024

Regular hours

Saturday
11:00 – 16:00
Sunday
11:00 – 16:00
Friday
11:00 – 16:00

Cost of entry

$0-$14

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A Father’s Kaddish tells the story of how Steven Branfman used the craft of pottery to help him work through his grief after the death of his 23-year-old son.

About

A Father’s Kaddish tells the story of how Steven Branfman used the craft of pottery to help him work through his grief after the death of his 23-year-old son. In 2005, Jared Branfman died of brain cancer at the age of 23.  A week after his death, his father Steven Branfman, a potter and teacher, went into his studio, took some clay, and made a chawan, a Japanese style tea bowl. Each day for one year, he made one chawan – they were the only pots he made.  Steve’s daily chawan made at his wheel was his own personal kaddish (traditional Jewish prayer of mourning). For 9 years, these 365 bowls sat unfinished on shelves in Branfman’s studio.  Nine years later, he decided to glaze and fire these bowls, bringing them to life with color and sheen. A Father’s Kaddish is the personal story of a man who created an art form to honor his son and his son’s memory.  The short film A Father’s Kaddish (2020), which will be screened during the June 1 opening reception to accompany this exhibition, is a potent and moving journey through the universal experience of loss, mourning, and rebuilding a life.

Eighty-five of Branfman’s mourning bowls, along with the trailer for the film, will be on view in the Igal & Diane Silber Vault Gallery at AMOCA from May 11–August 18, 2024.

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Steven Branfman

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