Emotive Wrexham artwork to feature in exhibition marking 75th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation

Memorial Flames created by prisoners, pupils, and art groups across Wales will feature in an exhibition in Cardiff to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The First Minister will speak at the launch event on March 2, with the exhibition open to the public the next day from 10am at 18 The Hayes in Cardiff.

The artworks, created by groups including Coleg Gwent students, HMP Cardiff art group, and craft group the Dowlais Quilters, make up eight of Holocaust Memorial Day Trust’s 75 Memorial Flames which were chosen by an expert judging panel to represent every year since the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp in 1945. The exhibition was unveiled earlier this year at the official UK Ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day 2020, which was attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Hundreds of groups from across the UK took part in the nationwide project launched by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) to encourage more people to remember the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust.

One stand-out piece produced by community group, AVOW, in Wrexham, takes the form of an outside artwork in the centre of Wrexham Town Centre in a collaborative effort by the community, and aerially photographed.

Rev. Jason Bray and Rev. Heather Shotton leave their handprints on AVOW’s memorial artwork

It is a collaborative, community artwork. Participants contributed hand-prints and foot-prints to a mural that was assembled in Wrexham Town Centre and photographed for the exhibition.

The Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham (AVOW) hosted ten workshops. Community groups involved include Wrexham Homeless Community Art Club, Plas Pentwyn Community Centre, Caia Park Youth Club, The Land, Little Sunflowers Childcare for primary-age children, and Communidade da Lingua Portuguesa de Wrexham.

Cllr Rob Walsh, mayor of Wrexham, adds his handprint to AVOW’s memorial artwork

Natasha Borton, of Wrexham AVOW, said: “Holocaust Memorial Day is a catalyst for discussion around discrimination, prejudice and activism for all ages and highlights the social inequalities in our community. Creating our contribution for the 75 Memorial Flames exhibition allowed AVOW to connect with more groups and individuals than ever before, with over 1,000 handprints and 10 events across the County Borough. The scope of the artwork has allowed us meet with these groups to discuss inequalities and raise awareness – not just of global genocides and discrimination – but also of ways to tackle discrimination in our local community.”

On the expert judging panel which chose the final 75 Memorial Flames were: illustrator and children’s author Nick Sharratt, famed for his work illustrating Jacqueline Wilson’s beloved novels; Observer arts correspondent Sarah Donaldson; art curator and broadcaster, Kathleen Soriano; Holocaust Memorial Day Trust Trustee and daughter of Naomi Blake, a sculptor and Holocaust survivor, Anita Peleg; and Chief Executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Olivia Marks-Woldman.

Kathleen Soriano, arts curator and Sky Arts Portrait and Landscape Artist of the Year judge, said: “What really makes the artworks produced for the 75 Memorial Flames project special, are the remarkable stories of those affected by the Holocaust, which are told through the art itself.”

Author and Illustrator, Nick Sharratt, added: “It’s more important than ever not to forget the history of the Holocaust, and this exhibition is a fantastic opportunity to ensure that. I’ve been very excited to see how many different interpretations of the brief there are, with each group using the central flame idea and making it their own.”

The 75 Memorial Flames project was launched with the creation of a sculpture by artist and survivor of the Holocaust, Maurice Blik, who was liberated from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as a child. The project was part of a wider programme of events devised by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to enable people to take part in Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) and learn from genocide, for a better future.

Chief Executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Olivia Marks-Woldman said: “We were delighted to receive so many thoughtful and poignant contributions from different types of groups from Wales. The project has reached people right across the country and at a time when we know identity-based hostility is increasing, it is heartening to see so many groups and communities learning from the past and paying tribute to those affected by the Holocaust in an artistic way.”