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NEWS
Photo Exhibit of Melbourne Jewry at Beit Hatefutzot
By S. Fried
On Tuesday, 8 Nisan (March 27th) the Diaspora Museum in Tel
Aviv will open a photo exhibition on Melbourne Jewry,
including pictures of the city's old beis knesses,
which was consecrated in 1877 and recently refurbished.
Artistic photographer Angela Lynkushka does portrait
photography, focusing on immigrant communities. She lived in
Brunswick, a vibrant working-class neighborhood in Melbourne,
for many years. In 1988, after the sale of the neighborhood
beis knesses — Brunswick's last vestige of
Jewish culture — she decided to document the lives of
the Jews in the city, which have been undergoing change. The
result was the exhibition, which was shown for the first time
in Melbourne in 1990.
Now the exhibition, consisting of three photographic essays,
has arrived at Beit Hatefutzot. The first is a series of
pictures of the old beis knesses in East Melbourne,
the oldest shul in Melbourne and one of the most beautiful
synagogues in all of Australia. The shul was originally built
during the Gold Rush of the 1850s and the current building
was consecrated in 1877. The City of Melbourne Synagogue, as
it is known today, is recognized as a historical site in use.
Lynkushka's photos highlight the architecture of the
synagogue and attest to the community life of the immigrants
who lived in close proximity.
The exhibition also features a series of photos on the life
of Felix Tuszynsky, a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to
Australia at the age of 26 and documents his experience in
paintings and drawings. The exhibition also includes color
and black-and-white portraits of various members of the
Jewish community.
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