Author Description

The idea of survival is a recurrent theme in discussions both of family and of art. Whether understood in physical, mental, or spiritual terms, it is inextricable from the most basic questions of human existence, encompassing the ways in which individual experience can persist after death. Questions of survival and immortality are thus central for understanding the artistically expansive family at the center of this volume: Alice Lok Cahana, a Holocaust survivor and painter; her son Rabbi Ronnie Cahana, a writer and stroke survivor; and his daughter Kitra Cahana, a photographer who embeds herself in communities in order to tell their stories. Complemented with fascinating essays that provide powerful insights into memory and trauma, this beautifully illustrated book interweaves powerful accounts of these three artists with a complex story of human experience, legacy, and meaning.