LABA BCN Fellow, Kevin Buckland, uses art, ceremony and study to raise awareness and new imaginaries around the forgotten medieval jewish cemetery on Montjuïc in Barcelona.
On September 29th he will work with Yad Miriam to convene an annual ceremony and performance of remembrance to explore ideas of belonging-in-diaspora, tensions between political and traditional law, and multi-species care for the future – while honoring the stories and bodies buried beneath our feet.
During the High Holidays, it is a tradition to visit cemeteries to honor our ancestors. For the past few years, as a community, we have also visited the old Montjuïc cemetery where, at first glance, there are no visible traces.
In 2009, it was declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest, but it still lacks meaning.
That is why we gather in this place to renew our commitment to the principle of Kavod HaMet: “to offer the deceased the proper respect and honor,” a millennial tradition that had been interrupted after 1391, when anti-Jewish attacks resulted in the disappearance of the community.
We know that, beneath our feet, under shrubs and roots, lie members of our extended Jewish family. And with our actions, we reconnect the soul of the place with the landscape that has naturally formed.
After a very brief explanation of the site’s history, the ceremony will consist of prayers and chants that accompany this ritual, followed by the reading of the few names that appear on the tombstones recovered in past excavations. We will especially remember Miriam, who passed away in the month of Kislev in 4990 (1229 Common Era), whose tombstone was the only one found in the 2001 archaeological campaign.
You are invited to this ceremony, essential for the practice of collective memory of the Jewish community and the city.
September 29th, 2024. 17:00h. (Exact meeting point will be confirmed via email, upon registration.)
After the ceremony, we will have an open ‘chevruta’ (study) session (1-hour duration).
Organized by: YAD MIRIAM
Kevin Buckland, LABA BCN Fellow (2024 Night), ARTivist, promoter of the ‘Yad Miriam’ initiative to generate a dynamic of memory in the former Jewish cemetery.
Dominique Tomasov Blinder, architect dedicated to the study, protection and dissemination of Jewish heritage since 1999.