Traveling Exhibit
Qohelet: Searching for a Life Worth Living
Illuminations and Commentary by Debra Band
I am delighted to make my 60 illuminated paintings from Qohelet: Searching for a Life Worth Living available in a traveling exhibit of framed limited edition prints, each of which are gilded by hand. The information below will be updated as the exhibit develops. The exhibit will begin during Autumn 2023. I am grateful to Sharon and Steven Lieberman for making this exhibit and the publication of the book possible.
Description: Hebrew manuscript artist Debra Band has created the first illuminated manuscript of the beloved yet challenging Book of Qohelet (Ecclesiastes), based on the revolutionary new philosophical understanding of the text developed by philosopher Menachem Fisch. Their work, Qohelet: Searching for a Life Worth Living, will be published by Baylor University Press in August 2023. The illuminations express the twin, timeless, concerns that Fisch uncovers: that life is short, and in light of humankind’s situation far below the heavens, we can never be assured of comprehending our world, or understanding divine will and intent, the best we can do is to live our lives fully, relating to others attentively, always aware of the limits of human life. In her 58 glowing, immersive and discursive illuminated paintings of the entire text, originally accomplished on calfskin vellum, with gouache and 23KT gold, Band creates a new visual midrash, imagining Qohelet’s teachings, employing the grandest of palaces, the Alhambra, as the central metaphor for the beauty and impermanence of human life and accomplishments. She fills its halls and gardens with often surprising imagery, symbolism and related poetry, expressing the author’s emotions, and revealing the relationship of Qohelet’s thought to other biblical texts and Jewish lore and its reverberations across the centuries and cultures of western civilization, from ancient Israel to today’s America.
Physical Features: 30 frames of 19” x 26” (48cm x 66cm), all but one of which encloses 2 side-by-side hand-gilded digital prints of the original paintings. One painting (the frontispiece) will be half the width.
Availability: Please contact Debra Band to discuss planning an exhibit. Below is the list of current exhibit venues and periods:
Hebrew Union College Museum, (NYC) Aug. 15-Dec. 15, 2023
Duke Divinity School (Durham, NC) Jan. 2024
ArtCenter Waco (Waco, TX) February-April 2024
Space Requirement: approximately 125 linear feet (18.25 meters), assuming 2 feet (.6 meters) between frames.
Required from Exhibitor: picture hanging hooks and/or screws, printing of introductory panel and wall-cards.
Introductory Text Panel and Wall Cards: Available for download on website.
Crate Sizes: approximately 10 corrugated crates, each 24” x 30” x 6” (61cm x 76 cm x 15cm).
Exhibit Rental Fee and Insurance: $1000US. Shipping insurance to be maintained by Debra Band
Shipping: Within United States and Canada, exhibitors are responsible for shipping to next venue. Within Europe and Israel, TBD.
Exhibit Book: Qohelet: Searching for a Life Worth Living, by Debra Band and Menachem Fisch, forthcoming from Baylor University Press, August 2023.
Education/Docent Training: Debra Band will offer a Zoom training session for each venue, with recordings made available to gallery staff for future use. Exhibit book recommended reading.
Gallery Talk/Speaker:Available. Please contact Debra Band.