“JOURNEY IN THE WAKE OF CATASTROPHE” AT YAD VASHEM
Yad Vashem
In each one of her works in the exhibition, Mazliach commemorates a personal story from the Holocaust and integrates texts from the period. The combination of the creative process, the personal perspective and the fragments of memory at Yad Vashem create a moving and thought-provoking invocation that raises philosophical questions about the connection between past and present, about Jewish identity in the face of existential threats, and about the manner in which one can transform personal pain and collective memory into a visual creation.
Tal Mazliach, a resident of Kibbutz Kfar Aza on the Gaza border, survived the brutal Hamas attack on October 7th, spending over 20 harrowing hours barricaded inside her home. This event has shaped her artistic journey, culminating in emotionally charged exhibits around the country, and now, in this deeply personal yet universally resonant body of work at Yad Vashem.
Recognizing a rare and powerful voice, Tal Mazliach was selected as the second artist for Yad Vashem's 'Residency' Project. This 'Residency' invites artists from various disciplines to encounter and explore on the Mount of Remembrance, encouraging them to draw inspiration for their creations from the site's invaluable collections, archival material, evocative landscapes, and dedicated experts.
“Journey in the Wake of Catastrophe” is not simply a reflection on grief — it is an exploration of memory, identity, and the haunting echoes that connect past and present. With her signature fusion of tribal motifs, bold color palettes, and layered text, Mazliach constructs a visual dialogue between anguish and tragedy. Each canvas serves as both personal testimony and collective lamentation —
a reminder of how history manifests in the body, the psyche, and the national soul.
“I was searching for love, for a kiss, for something intimate. And then you realize — there was intimacy. There was humanity.“ explains Mazliah. “Even in the midst of all this horror, someone was falling in love with someone else. It’s almost hard to believe, but there was
compassion. There was friendship, kindness, connection. There was so much more than just tragedy. I wasn’t looking for the big, terrifying, monstrous things. I focused on the small moments, the human stories.“
Mazliach, who studied at the Avni Institute and was awarded the prestigious Rappaport Prize for an Established Israeli Artist in 2009, approaches her craft as both catharsis and confrontation. Though she has no direct familial connection to the Holocaust, she immersed herself in Yad Vashem’s vast collections to create a body of work that channels the voices, objects, and memories of those who perished. Many of her pieces incorporate visual and textual elements from historical artifacts housed at Yad Vashem, reframed through Tal's artistic lens.
“Tal’s work is a profound meditation on the continuity of trauma,” said Orly Ohana, Yad Vashem Art Curator for this exhibiton. “The Holocaust and the events of October 7th are separated by generations, geography, and context — but her art reveals how suffering can echo across time. Her paintings don’t mimic Holocaust art; rather, they absorb its emotional language and translate it for
a new moment of reckoning.”
Chairman of Yad Vashem Dani Dayan emphasized the vital role such initiatives play in advancing Holocaust remembrance:
“Yad Vashem holds one of the world’s most significant collections of Holocaust-era art — works that were often the final expressions of Jews before they were murdered. With Tal’s exhibition, we see how that legacy continues to evolve. Her work speaks powerfully to this generation’s anguish while honoring the memory of another. Through these canvases, we witness the transmission of collective pain — and the resilience that springs from it.”
“Journey in the Wake of Catastrophe” is open to the public at Yad Vashem’s Art Museum in Jerusalem.
Eleven original works by acclaimed Israeli artist Tal Mazliach draw a visceral, visual line between two seismic ruptures in Jewish memory: The Holocaust and the atrocities of October 7th.
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