Wojtek Sawa, a Sarasota based visual artist specializing in installations and performance art, was born in Poland and emigrated to the United States as a child. Sawa has presented work at public venues in Europe and the U.S. Currently, he is producing a large participatory installation at the Florida Holocaust Museum.
The fact that the installation is presented there, is symptomatic both of an increased willingness to present the Polish story and of improving Polish Jewish relations. 2014 marked the opening, in Warsaw, of “Polin” of the largest museum of Jewish history in the world, a museum dedicated to Jewish life throughout the centuries.
“The Wall Speaks – Voices of the Unheard” exhibit is dedicated to Polish children and teenagers of World War II subjected to Nazi German and Soviet policies and actions expressed by the slogan: “We will make you less than human”.
It’s contemporary participatory aspect is also dedicated to those today, no matter what ethnicity, religion or color whose voices are unheard and who suffer at being treated as less than fully human.
The exhibit features large format photography and interactive artifact and video installations. It will be presented at the Florida Holocaust Museum, January 31 through April 29, 2015.
Florida Holocaust Museum, 55 5th Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
