In commemoration of the 95th anniversary of an outstanding writer and friend of the Rogatchi family late Grigory Kanovich ( 1929, Lithuania – 2023, Israel ) and marking the European Days of Jewish Culture 2024, with its designated theme Family, the Rogatchi Foundation has donated a 25-piece special art collection Shtetl Songs to the Grigory Kanovich Public Library of the Jonava Municipality District, Lithuania.
The collection consists of Michael Rogatchi’s 15-piece Shtetl Stories collection and Inna Rogatchi’s 11-piece Shtetl Memories series and includes both original works by both artists and exclusive museum prints of their works produced for the project specifically.
The Rogatchi Foundation has also donated to the Grigory Kanovich Public Jonava Library licensing rights for the images of the artworks in the donated collection in support of the Library cultural and educational projects.
All works by both Michael and Inna Rogatchi visit the theme of Jewish heritage, focusing on reminiscences to shtetl. The theme is well-known to both artists due to their respective families’ stories and origins. Inna and Michael Rogatchi both tell about it in their introductions to the collection in the Shtetl Songs art catalogue which has been published for the occasion of the donation of the collection and its inaugural exhibition at the Grigory Kanovich Public Library in Jonava, Lithuania.
15 artworks by Michael Rogatchi represents the artist’s well-known series on various themes of Jewish history and heritage, including his Shtetl Stories, Jewish Melody, Psalms Country, Daily Miracle and In the Mirror of the Shoah. 11 works by Inna Rogatchi are from the artist’s Songs of Our Souls and Shtetl Memories series.
The entire collection has been donated by the artists and their The Rogatchi Foundation to the Grigory Kanovich Public Library of the Jonava Municipality in Lithuania at the special ceremony on September 12th, 2024. The ceremony was part of the extensive program of the annual European Days of Jewish Culture, which has FAMILY as the theme in 2024.
The Rogatchi Foundation also licensed all images of the donated collection to the Library with the purpose of the ongoing support of their wide and versatile educational and cultural activities.
The 25-piece Shtetl Stories and Memories collection will be exhibited in the Library in Joanav until the end of November 2024, after which the exhibition will travel throughout Lithuania from 2025 onward. After its tour, the Rogatchi Collection will return to the Jonava Library as part of the Library Permanent Art Collection.
Full Michael Rogatchi Shtetl Songs collection.