Vernissage

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23rd 5 23rfd 4Thank you for being here this evening. My grateful thanks are due to:
The Kreuzkirche , Dresden : Pfarrarin Antje Hinze and Pfarrer Holger Milkau for their support and in particular Frau Claudia Hofmann who has worked tirelessly on this exhibition.
The Kunstdienst Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Sachsen, Herr Steffen Krüger and Herr Dr Frank Schmidt who produced all the publicity material and helped me install the exhibition.
Landeshauptstadt Dresden for their support, in particular Nadia Reuther from the Buro für europäische und international  Angelegenheiten in the Büro der Oberbürgermeisterin
The Gesellschaft für Christlich-Jüdische Zusammenarbeit, Frau Esther Pofhal and Frau Hildegart Stellmacher who first saw this exhibition in London and encouraged me to exhibit it in Dresden.
The Grafikwerkstatt Dresden where these prints were made, in particular Torsten Leupold for his constant patience and good humour  as I made a mess of his immaculate press.

I came to Dresden from London on Monday, travelling for the first time on my new German passport. Last year as a symbolic act I reclaimed my German citizenship.
This is an exhibition about memory. It considers how we construct our own history and how we know today who we are. My mother and her parents loved Dresden and were devastated at being forced to leave. Britain did not welcome them with open arms, but it did take them in and they were grateful. The contribution German Jewish refugees made to British life and culture was immense and is widely recognised. Today Dresden stands yet again at a particularly difficult time in its history, and each one of us needs to consider every day who we are and what we stand for? On Monday there were no demonstrations but at the Theaterplatz I saw a placard which said’ I am Lutz.’ My hashtag is I am British, I am German, I am a Jew, I am a Dresdener.

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