This multimedia art exhibition deconstructs and reinterprets the literary work of a secret society of Jewish boys, who created the longest-running underground magazine in any Nazi camp. Using a combination of pop-art graphics, drawings, paintings, and the prose and poetry of adolescent prisoners in the Terezin Ghetto, the exhibit explores 83 weekly issues of the Vedem magazine. Produced from 1942 – 1944, the original ‘zine’ (hand-made magazine), is recreated through panels dedicated to various subject matter, such as “Features”, “Humor” and “News and Editorial” sections. Vedem Underground enlarges the intimate scale of the original publication, while mixing and matching works of art with poetry and prose, to reinterpret a work of artistic resistance that remains as relevant today as it did more than 70 years ago. On display will be reproductions of 56 compelling objects, ephemera, photographs and 800 pages from the original Vedem magazines provided by Pamatnik Terezin, the Terezin Memorial Museum at the Terezin ghetto. Also included are four videos of never before seen footage from Terezin filmed for the documentary film, “Vedem Underground.” On view to the general public in HMH’s Mincberg Gallery beginning June 16, 2017, Vedem Underground is a testament to the human spirit. It pays tribute to the legacy of Vedem’s adolescent writers, editors and illustrators, who expressed themselves by creating their own medium - and knowingly risking their lives by doing so.
