art6Gallery hosted David Turner's First Annual Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day International Exhibition in May, 2009. The exhibition included works by visual artists from around the world, the United States, and members of the local Richmond arts community. A memorial to the past, the exhibition was a testament to the resilience and survival of a people persecuted for two thousand years, still proudly insisting on their future. The exhibition included works by artists living as well as dead, those who directly experienced the Holocaust and those who did not: yet all survivors. Only the accident of country of residence distinguishing the two.
Special thanks to Jay Ipson, founder and Director of Virginia Holocaust Museum, for making available materials from the museum's archives, and also to Weinstein Jewish Community Center for their support and assistance.
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Defiant Silence, Never Forget!
First Annual Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance International Exhibition
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Entrance to the exhibition
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First arrivals of approximately 2500 visitors on First Friday Art Walk, 1 May, 2009
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Entrance to Hungarian artist, Istvan Horkay's exhibit. Included was Bolzano Cafe, an original video dramatization, and images of Istvan's digital art, Bolzano Gold.
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The image to the right is Dachau, one of five images in the exhibition by 18 year old Richmond artist, Joe Riley. On the wall facing the two women is a concentration camp victim's uniform.
art6 Skylight Gallery continues the exhibit of Bolzano Gold, and various works by Holocaust and contemporary artists.
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Jonathan Lebolt provides traditional and modern Jewish and Israeli music. In the background art6 Gallery Director Janine Turner greets chairman of the Board Richard LeBlanc.
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Performance Arts at art6 Gallery's Yom HaShoah Exhibition
art6 was privileged to host two stage productions by renowned Richmond playwright, Slash Coleman, including the premiere reading of his new play, Bonjour Israel, and a dramatic dialogue with author Eliezer Sobel in his “Matzo Balls” series. Richmond storyteller Les Shaffer performed and introduced the Matzo Balls dialogue. All ten performers volunteered their time to perform in this Yom HaShoah event.
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Cast of Slash Coleman's new play, Shalom Israel! premiered at art6 Gallery on 2 May, 2009. The play's name uses dark humor to portray the tragedy faced by Jews living in Paris following the German occupation. During the Holocaust years, along with the requirement that Jews display the Star of David on outer garments, they were also forced to adopt the names of "Sarah" for women, and "Israel" for men. Bonjour Israel refers to two Parisian Jews greeting each other upon meeting.
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Slash in character in his Matzo Balls monologue, Saturday, 9, May.
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Slash and Eliezer accepting the applause of the audience, an appreciation that moments later resulted in a standing ovation. 
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