Haim Maor - Exhibition: Raik vs. Reich

Reik vs. Reich

Installation at Beit Ya'ari Archive, Givat Haviva, 1994.
From the group exhibition: "Standing Opposite the Mountain - Kibbutz in the First Person", as part of the "Art-Focus" events, Givat Haviva Art Center. Curator: Tali Tamir.

Excerpts from "The other side of ideology"
By Tali Tamir, Curator
Haim Maor's (of Kibbutz Givat Haim Meuchad) work - "Raik vs Reich" is situated in the third floor of the Yad Ya'ari archives, the institute of research and documentation of Hashomer Hatza'ir movement. Maor's installation is set up in the center of an active archive, amongst rows of shelves laden with numbered cardboard boxes, containing impressive chapters of the history of the movement. The penetration into the spaces of memory (while monitoring admission times and people admitted to preserve the archives) amounts to penetrating history itself. The installation focuses on a historic figure connected to a World War II Jewish valiance myth: The parachutist Haviva Raik, who gave her name to Givat Haviva. Raik was one of three women in a team of thirty-seven parachutists who were sent to occupied Europe by the Zionist authorities in Palestine .Their mission was to rescue Jews. Raik and several others were killed on that mission. but only one of the members - the poet Hana Senesh - has become a national legend of valor and dedication.
The others remained anonymous. Maor's installation "Raik vs. Reich" deals with the manner In which history sorts out its data, the details that escape. and the mechanisms supporting and reconstructing the collective memory.

Maor probes the dead memories which gather dust on the archive shelves. He converts the archive master's desk, for one month, to Haviva Raik's personal desk. A desk loaded with photographs. memorial paraphernalia, and thirty-seven folded parachutes bestowing symbolic life on thirty seven forgotten paratroopers. Although Maor's installation occupies itself with an event from World War LI, its essence - the struggle between History and Mythology - bonds it to the general subject of the exhibition: The position or predisposition of the individual with respect to the heavy burden of ideology. The myth - this time - not a didactic. illuminating message. but rather an entity capable of floodlighting the environment, causing partial blindness and lethal forgetfulness. The proficiency at telling Raik's story from a different angle attests to the possibility that History in its entirety can be deciphered differently, relieved of dogma and reconstructed anew. The space hosting the work, the archive, is a passive one. waiting in readiness for the historians undertaking. However. "We. who are prepared to remember at any cost", writes Maor. " lubricate our memorial devices in the open archive. I remember, therefore I exist".

Haim maor: "Raik vs. Reich"

An installation in the Givat Haviva archives
as part of "Art Focus"
October 1994

"Honoring the memory of the unknown is a dignified task, tougher than commemorating the renowned. The building of History is dedicated to the memory of the unknown!"
Walter Benjamin

"Who is to decide what is to become historically meaningful and what shall forever perish from the collective memory of Mankind?
There are no errors in History. History itself is an error."
Bracho Dmitriewitch

"Even the remembering generation goes on dying, some happily, some not, and who shall remember those who remember?"
Yehudah Amichai

Remembering is potency
Forgetting is comfortable

Spirits of the memories

I do not create memory generating objects; on the contrary
The memories themselves generate and create objects.
In other words, if we picture memories as living creatures, I spy after the dead memories.
I raise them from the dead, clutch the strings of past memories, clothing them with a temporary visual vision in the Present.
Memories of the past are but a looking glass, a mirror with which we reflect clearly and accurately the occurrences of the present. It is another device in the struggle of History with Mythology.

One and all

It all begins with an actual event. It happens to ordinary people during the normal course of their lives in a given time and place. From here on Mythology begins to gnaw at History: We isolate a single person or a single group, transforming that person or that group into a symbol of the event. The event reformulates, turning into a 'story'. The details present themselves at the service of the collective memory and the national or international consciousness. Thus, out of the desire to remember, some of the figures involved are forgotten. The original event 'surrenders' and becomes a 'legend' or a 'myth'.
This technique is easy for the utilization of the human perception mechanisms and the power institutions of government.

The archives and the hidden facts

The archives store and preserve documents, photos, artifacts and facts of life. There, inside the cases stored on the shelves of these archives, they become the substance of History.
The sealed cases store facts which are hidden from sight and consciousness.
Stored inside the archives of Givat Haviva is the historic legacy of "Hashbmer
Hatsa-eer" movement and Hakibbutz Ha'artsi. This legacy makes for a substantial chapter in the history of the Jewish people in Europe and in Israel.

The tales of the ordeal of thirty seven 12parachutists, three of whom women, are revealed through these archives. Sent from Palestine to occupied Europe during World War II, they were instructed to do their outmost to save Jews from the Nazis. Some were killed on that mission, some passed away, others died in an accident that took place during the ten year memorial ceremony to Peretz Goldstein, one of their comrades, when a light airplane crashed into the assembled crowd at Kibbutz Ma'agan in 1954. The rest are still living in Israel.
In years to come this ordeal has turned into yet another glorious chapter in the Jewish-Israeli experience. One of the women involved, the poetess and parachutist Hana Senesh, has become a martyr and a symbol in her own right.
Haviva Raik, who gave her name to the Givat Haviva Seminary, was killed on that mission. She and her comrades, heretofore obscure in the Historic-collective lore, return to the archival shelves, alive inside folded parachutes carrying their personal ID tags..
The desk of the archive master becomes - for one month - that of Haviva Raik's, a personal desk, full of photographs and memories.

Spiritless parachutists

The installation "Raik versus Reich" grants symbolic life to thirty-seven spiritless parachutists. Parachutes are scattered on the operation table as umbrellas, next to the sewing machines. The parachutists weep at night, and the good ones demand the alleviation of their indignity.
We, who are prepared to remember at whatever cost, lubricate our memorial mechanisms within the open archives. I remember, therefore I exist.

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	Reik vs. Reich Installation at Beit Ya'ari Archive, Givat Haviva, 1994. From the group exhibition: "Standing Opposite the Mountain - Kibbutz in the First Person", as part of the "Art-Focus" events, Givat Haviva Art Center. Curator: Tali Tamir.

	Excerpts from "The other side of ideology" By Tali Tamir, Curator Haim Maor's (of Kibbutz Givat Haim Meuchad) work - "Raik vs Reich" is situated in the third floor of the Yad Ya'ari archives, the institute of research and documentation of Hashomer Hatza'ir movement. Maor's installation is set up in the center of an active archive, amongst rows of shelves laden with numbered cardboard boxes, containing impressive chapters of the history of the movement. The penetration into the spaces of memory (while monitoring admission times and people admitted to preserve the archives) amounts to penetrating history itself. The installation focuses on a historic figure connected to a World War II Jewish valiance myth: The parachutist Haviva Raik, who gave her name to Givat Haviva. Raik was one of three women in a team of thirty-seven parachutists who were sent to occupied Europe by the Zionist authorities in Palestine .Their mission was to rescue Jews. Raik and several others were killed on that mission. but only one of the members - the poet Hana Senesh - has become a national legend of valor and dedication. The others remained anonymous. Maor's installation "Raik vs. Reich" deals with the manner In which history sorts out its data, the details that escape. and the mechanisms supporting and reconstructing the collective memory. Maor probes the dead memories which gather dust on the archive shelves. He converts the archive master's desk, for one month, to Haviva Raik's personal desk. A desk loaded with photographs. memorial paraphernalia, and thirty-seven folded parachutes bestowing symbolic life on thirty seven forgotten paratroopers. Although Maor's installation occupies itself with an event from World War LI, its essence - the struggle between History and Mythology - bonds it to the general subject of the exhibition: The position or predisposition of the individual with respect to the heavy burden of ideology. The myth - this time - not a didactic. illuminating message. but rather an entity capable of floodlighting the environment, causing partial blindness and lethal forgetfulness. The proficiency at telling Raik's story from a different angle attests to the possibility that History in its entirety can be deciphered differently, relieved of dogma and reconstructed anew. The space hosting the work, the archive, is a passive one. waiting in readiness for the historians undertaking. However. "We. who are prepared to remember at any cost", writes Maor. " lubricate our memorial devices in the open archive. I remember, therefore I exist". Haim maor: "Raik vs. Reich" An installation in the Givat Haviva archives as part of "Art Focus" October 1994 "Honoring the memory of the unknown is a dignified task, tougher than commemorating the renowned. The building of History is dedicated to the memory of the unknown!" Walter Benjamin "Who is to decide what is to become historically meaningful and what shall forever perish from the collective memory of Mankind? There are no errors in History. History itself is an error." Bracho Dmitriewitch "Even the remembering generation goes on dying, some happily, some not, and who shall remember those who remember?" Yehudah Amichai Remembering is potency Forgetting is comfortable Spirits of the memories I do not create memory generating objects; on the contrary The memories themselves generate and create objects. In other words, if we picture memories as living creatures, I spy after the dead memories. I raise them from the dead, clutch the strings of past memories, clothing them with a temporary visual vision in the Present. Memories of the past are but a looking glass, a mirror with which we reflect clearly and accurately the occurrences of the present. It is another device in the struggle of History with Mythology. One and all It all begins with an actual event. It happens to ordinary people during the normal course of their lives in a given time and place. From here on Mythology begins to gnaw at History: We isolate a single person or a single group, transforming that person or that group into a symbol of the event. The event reformulates, turning into a 'story'. The details present themselves at the service of the collective memory and the national or international consciousness. Thus, out of the desire to remember, some of the figures involved are forgotten. The original event 'surrenders' and becomes a 'legend' or a 'myth'. This technique is easy for the utilization of the human perception mechanisms and the power institutions of government. The archives and the hidden facts The archives store and preserve documents, photos, artifacts and facts of life. There, inside the cases stored on the shelves of these archives, they become the substance of History. The sealed cases store facts which are hidden from sight and consciousness. Stored inside the archives of Givat Haviva is the historic legacy of "Hashbmer Hatsa-eer" movement and Hakibbutz Ha'artsi. This legacy makes for a substantial chapter in the history of the Jewish people in Europe and in Israel. The tales of the ordeal of thirty seven 12parachutists, three of whom women, are revealed through these archives. Sent from Palestine to occupied Europe during World War II, they were instructed to do their outmost to save Jews from the Nazis. Some were killed on that mission, some passed away, others died in an accident that took place during the ten year memorial ceremony to Peretz Goldstein, one of their comrades, when a light airplane crashed into the assembled crowd at Kibbutz Ma'agan in 1954. The rest are still living in Israel. In years to come this ordeal has turned into yet another glorious chapter in the Jewish-Israeli experience. One of the women involved, the poetess and parachutist Hana Senesh, has become a martyr and a symbol in her own right. Haviva Raik, who gave her name to the Givat Haviva Seminary, was killed on that mission. She and her comrades, heretofore obscure in the Historic-collective lore, return to the archival shelves, alive inside folded parachutes carrying their personal ID tags.. The desk of the archive master becomes - for one month - that of Haviva Raik's, a personal desk, full of photographs and memories. Spiritless parachutists The installation "Raik versus Reich" grants symbolic life to thirty-seven spiritless parachutists. Parachutes are scattered on the operation table as umbrellas, next to the sewing machines. The parachutists weep at night, and the good ones demand the alleviation of their indignity. We, who are prepared to remember at whatever cost, lubricate our memorial mechanisms within the open archives. I remember, therefore I exist.