The institutional partner organization for the project is the Cultural and Meeting Center “Ariowitsch-Haus” in Leipzig, the only Jewish cultural center in the federal state of Saxony: https://ariowitschhaus.de/
The “Ariowitsch-Haus” provides an extensive cultural and educational program and offers a space for exchange and contact between Jewish and non-Jewish Leipzigers. The “Ariowitsch-Haus” also offers seminars for associations, schools, institutions and companies who wish to engage with the topic of Judaism, Jewish history and culture as well as antisemitism.
For Etz Hayyim Synagogue, the project “Shadows next to the Parasol” is part of our work combining historical memory and heritage, education and culture. We are immensely grateful to renowned theater director Jürgen Zielinski, who initiated this project.
Jürgen Zielinski, one of the most renowned theatre directors for young audiences in Germany, is the initiator and artistic director of the project. From 2002 to 2020, he was artistic director and stage director of the “Theater of the Young World” in Leipzig, where he staged the pioneering play “Children of the Holocaust”, among others. Zielinski directed the Kampnagel youth theater in Hamburg and the children’s and youth theater at the Landestheater Tübingen, directed over 150 productions in Germany and abroad (including in Wroclaw as part of Capital of Culture) and worked for eight years as a freelance director, primarily in evening productions at municipal and state theaters. During this time, he directed “Nathan the Wise” by Gottfried Ephraim Lessing on behalf of the Goethe-Institut in Karachi, Pakistan. He is a laureate of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People.
His productions have also been shown on numerous stages in Germany. His production “Children of the Holocaust”, for example, was performed in Germany, Poland and Israel, while the play “JULLER” about the German-Jewish national football player Julius Hirsch was performed in numerous theaters in several German cities with a strong footfall tradition. He has developed numerous outdoor performances and led workshops at international festivals.
Dr Andreas Eberhardt is a German social scientist and former foundation director who has held leading positions at the German-Israeli Future Forum Foundation, the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future and the Alfred Landecker Foundation, among others. He is the founder of the consultancy Design Democracy+. His work focuses on strengthening a democratic civil society in Europe and promoting a modern culture of remembrance.
For the “Shadows next to the Parasol” project, Andreas Eberhardt contributes as the dramaturge for the theatrical installation.
Bettina Frank is an actor and an experienced theater pedagogue. She particularly aims at raising children’s interest in theater. She has worked at the Theater der Jungen Welt (Theater for the Young World) in Leipzig, where she already cooperated with Jürgen Zielinski on several successful projects, including developing theater pedagogical material for his production of the play “Children of the Holocaust”, which provides methods on how to make the commemoration of the Holocaust less abstract for children and young adults.
