Feb 24
THE LONG SOVIET SHADOW IN NOVEL & MEMOIR
Monday, Feb 24, 6:00pm $18 Buy tickets
Moderator: Marina Sonkina
Dr. KARINE RASHKOVSKY / An Improbable Life: My Father’s Escape from Soviet Russia
From evading the KGB and disassembling a downed American plane to narrowly escaping a life sentence in Siberia, Reuven Rashkovsky’s story is a gripping tale of searching for belonging, and daring to escape the tightly controlled Soviet regime. Relayed in his point of view by his daughter, Dr. Karine Rashkovsky, An Improbable Life tells the story of a man who has been at the centre of some of tumultuous events in modern history, from World War II to the Six-Day War to the collapse of the USSR, providing insight into the world of Soviet Jewry and the almost insurmountable obstacles to getting out.
Dr. KARINE RASHKOVSKY is an award-winning entrepreneur, educator, speaker, author, and academic. She is the founder of a Canadian enrichment program and a sought-after executive coach. She lives in West Vancouver.
SASHA VASILYUK / Your Presence Is Mandatory
This riveting debut novel, based on real events, tells the story of a Ukrainian Jewish World War II veteran with a dangerous lifelong secret, the repercussions for his family, and the grace they find in the course of their survival. Spanning seven decades between WWII and the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, from Germany’s prison camps and forced labor system to the Soviet culture of pride and paranoia, Sasha Vasilyuk shines a revealing light on one family caught between two totalitarian regimes.
SASHA VASILYUK was born in the Soviet Crimea and spent her childhood between Ukraine and Russia before immigrating to San Francisco at age 13. She has a MA in Journalism from New York University, and her nonfiction has been published in The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, BBC, The Telegraph etc. She lives in San Francisco.
MARINA SONKINA is an author and scholar who taught literature at Moscow State University, UBC and SFU.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TEMPLE SHOLOM and VANCOUVER HOLOCAUST EDUCATION CENTRE
ART & HISTORY: PARIS, JEWS AND SURREALISM
Monday, Feb 24 , 8:00pm $18 Buy tickets
MARK BRAUDE / Kiki Man Ray: Art, Love and Rivalry in 1920s Paris
In conversation with Chris Friedrichs
In freewheeling 1920s Paris, Kiki de Montparnasse captivated as a nightclub performer, sold out gallery showings of her paintings, starred in Surrealist films, and shared drinks and ideas with the likes of Jean Cocteau and Marcel Duchamp. Her best-selling memoir–
featuring an introduction by Ernest Hemingway– made front-page news in France and was immediately banned in America. All that before she turned 30.
Kiki was once the symbol of bohemian Paris. But if she is remembered today, it is only for posing for several now-celebrated male artists, including Modigliani, Calder and photographer Man Ray.
Kiki Man Ray charts the volatile relationship between the French star of her time Kiki and the American photographer Man Ray (born Emmanuel “Manny” Radnitzky, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, and raised in Brooklyn).
Kiki and Man Ray met at a Parisian café in 1921. What followed was an explosive decade-long connection, both professional and romantic, during which the couple grew and experimented as artists, competed for fame, and created many of the shocking images that cemented Man Ray’s reputation as one of the great artists of modern era. Award-winning historian Mark Braude illuminates Kiki’s seminal influence on Man Ray’s art, and on the culture of 1920s Paris and beyond.
MARK BRAUDE is the author of The Invisible Emperor and Making Monte Carlo whose books have been translated into seven languages. Mark has been a visiting fellow at the American Library in Paris, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford, and an NEH Public Scholar.
CHRIS FRIEDRICHS is Professor Emeritus of History at UBC.
SPONSORED BY JULIE and MICHAEL SEELIG