Memory Demands So Much is part of my 18 piece interfaith project Birds of Longing; Exile and Memory, which interweaves Jewish, Muslim and Christian poetry and spiritual texts from the period of the Convivencia with those of contemporary Middle Eastern poets, particularly Palestinian, Syrian and Israeli.

The catalyst for Birds of Longing was the shocking events of September 11, 2001, events that continue to resonate with us. In the years after September 11th, many non-Muslim Americans paid real attention to Islam for the first time. For me, seeing that many Muslims were demonized, and that Americans in general had very little understanding of Islam, I looked for a way to suggest that art can be used to mediate at the intersection of faith and politics.

We are in a time of heartbreaking tragedy – when once again people fleeing persecution and violence are denied refuge. As the situation in the Middle East spirals downward, and xenophobia is encouraged in our own country, I believe it is all the more important to encourage continuing interfaith/multicultural conversations. I hope to make vivid for viewers the connections among the Abrahamic religions and stimulate thought about their shared emotional, aesthetic, and thematic content. I hope to suggest a different way of seeing, and to offer healing..

Memory Demands So Much takes its title from a poem by Denise Levertov, who writes: “Memory demands so much. . . lift me with you, take me off this ground of memory that clings to my feet like thick clay." Texts incorporated in the piece are from the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, and the Israeli poets Yehudah Amichai and Natan Alterman. From Alterman: “I the rememberer, I the witness.” But Darwish writes: “This is forgetfulness: that you remember the past and not remember tomorrow in the story.” Amichai wearies of the burden of memory: “Let the memorial hill remember instead of me. . .Let the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens eat and remember. Let all of them remember so that I can rest.”

And he asks: “Excuse me, where can I find the Public Forgetter?”

Fiber artist Laurie Wohl is internationally known for her unique Unweavings®, liturgical projects, and interfaith message. Her works, recognized by the AIA Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture, and by the Surface Design Association, are held in the collections of the Museum of Arts and Design, American Bible Society, Constitutional Court of South Africa, Catholic Theological Union, and numerous other public and private collections. Her works have been on long-term loan to the United States Embassies in Beirut, Vienna, Tunis, Cape Town, and Pretoria.

Major liturgical projects include The Psalms Project (12 pieces - Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago) and the Talbot Bible Stoles Project (4 pieces - Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, NYC), as well as pieces for Monmouth Reform Temple (NJ), Central Presbyterian Church (Atlanta), and First Presbyterian Church (Durham, NC). Wohl received the Honor Design Award for The Psalms Project, from the AIA Interfaith Forum.

Wohl received grants from the Center for Arts, Religion & Education and the Surface Design Association for her interfaith project-”Birds of Longing: Exile and Memory.” The project is traveling through 2020 to various educational and interfaith venues in California, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana, Texas, Virginia, Washington D.C., Minnesota, and North Carolina.

Wohl has curated a number of interfaith and multi-cultural exhibitions, including “With Many Voices” (Fourth Presbyterian Church) and “Art from Soweto” (Catholic Theological Union). Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, she has given a series of lectures and workshops in Soweto, Johannesburg, and Pretoria, South Africa. She speaks frequently on art and worship, text and textile. Among her special projects have been interactive set designs for full-length dance pieces by Callince Dance (NYC) and Jan Erkert & Dancers (Chicago). Call to Worship, Fiberarts, Surface Design Journal, and Seminary Ridge Review, among other publications and catalogues, have featured her Unweavings®.

Wohl’s work is discussed in Ori Soltes’ 2016 book “Tradition and Transformation: Three Millennia of Jewish Art and Architecture.” She is a Fellow Member of the Jewish Art Salon, and a member of the American Guild of Judaic Art. Ms. Wohl lives and works in New York City.