Siona Benjamin's Interviews on Canvas Faces of the Bene Israel

ASIAN JEWISH LIFE
By Erica Lyons

Sharon Galsurkar at Magen David Synagogue

INDIA - The story of the Jews in India goes back 2,000 years and is one of peaceful coexistence in a colorful world that embraced them yet one of isolation from global Jewry. When artist Siona Benjamin, an American, set out on her trip back to the India of her childhood in 2010, she arrived with an intense sense of purposefulness heavily laden with nostalgia. She was intent on rescuing the stories and narratives of these people, her people, the Jews of India. Benjamin was awarded the Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship 2010-11, which enabled her to embark on this four month intensive research study in India that allowed her to photograph, interview, and record the Bene Israel's stories lest they fall into oblivion. [link]

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Siona Benjamin's Hindu Portraits Show the Varied Faces of Jews

MONTCLAIR TIMES
By Elizabeth Oguss

NEW JERSEY - In an empty synagogue in Pune, India, an old man prays alone, his still-strong voice rising to the rafters as he chants the Hebrew prayers. The moment is captured in still photos and on video by an American artist, Siona Benjamin. "His voice in the empty synagogue was a symbol," Benjamin said, recalling the moment in the basement studio of her Montclair home. "Once there were 30,000 Jews in India. Now there are around 4,000. When he sang alone, his voice echoed."Her aim is to explore the many faces of Indian Jews in order to "reconfirm" something she has always known: "There is no such thing as a Jewish race." As a Bene Israel Jew raised in a Hindu and Muslim society and educated in Christian and Zoroastrian schools, Benjamin knows firsthand what it is to feel "other." PHOTO: Benjamin with cantor in Mumbai. [link]

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Art Review: "Lilith" by Siona Benjamin | NYC

JEWISH PRESS
By Richard McBeeNEW YORK - Siona Benjamin's exhibition Finding Home: The Art of Siona Benjamin is simply beautiful. Set in the spacious lobby gallery of the JCC Manhattan, it allows for a peaceful contemplation of this complex artist's meditations on biblical women, war, exoticism and contemporary society. The painted walls range from soft ochre to a pale turquoise, setting off Benjamin's palette to maximum effect, each work sensuously vibrating with the atmosphere of Benjamin's native Mumbai, India. (Above) "Finding Home #102 'Lilith' (Fereshteh)" 2008. The exhibit will run through July 30. [link]

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NYC's Jewish Art Salon Panel Discussion: Diversity in Jewish Art

AOA NEWS

"Finding Home#89 Vashti (Fereshteh)" by Sonja Benjamin

NEW YORK - On Monday, June 27 at 7pm, The Jewish Art Salon hosts an evening discussion entitled "Jewish Diversity in Art" centering around the works of artist Sonja Benjamin. Benjamin's work is currently on exhibit at The Laurie M. Tisch Gallery at the Jewish Community Center. The event is free. Benjamin's work presents the multi-dimensional identities of Jewish people and she will be part of the panel discussion. Other panel members will include Matthew Baigell, Professor Emeritus of Art History at Rutgers, and author and editor of over 20 books on American and Russian art; and filmmaker Lacey Schwartz. The panel will be moderated by Yona Verwer, president of the Jewish Art Salon. [link]

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The Blue, Indian Jews on View in Manhattan

AOA News

"Beloved" (Sarah and Hagar) By Sonia Benjamin

NEW YORK - In the vibrant world created by Indian-Jewish artist Siona Benjamin (born in Bombay, now living in New Jersey), Biblical characters come in the form of blue angels who face problems and dilemmas of the contemporary world. [link]
"Unable to deal with the conflict between Sarah and Hagar, Abraham tells Sarah to “do what is right in her eyes,” said Siona. "The Sarah and Hagar in my painting titled “Beloved” are reunited. In deep embrace they are mere reflections of each other. Being raised Jewish in a Hindu and Muslim India, I grew up having close friendships with Muslims. I cannot but see the similarities we share as human beings not our differences." “Finding Home: The Art of Siona Benjamin.” features paintings that fuse Indian art practices like miniature images with biblical and Sephardic imagery. The exhibition runs through July 29 at the 76th Street Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, NYC.

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