On 17 August, Herzlia Grade 8 finalists and parents gathered at The South African Jewish Museum for the opening of the My Family Story exhibition, an ongoing worldwide, Jewish International Heritage Competition.
The My Family Story competition gives Jewish children the chance to research their family histories and create a personal, artistic representation of their findings. This year, 155 institutions and more than 20 000 students from 25 countries in the Diaspora took part. This was the first year that Herzlia Middle School participated and 26 finalists had their projects exhibited at the SAJM.
It was moving to see the originality of each pupil’s work and how they engaged creatively with their own family history. While it was extremely difficult to select a single winner, first place went to Mia Flax who interpreted her family history by creating a model of a dress worn by her grandmother and then adding layers to the dress that link to her own experiences.
Mia will be flown to Israel where her project will be exhibited in Beth Hatfutsot (The Museum of the Jewish People) in Tel Aviv along with all the other international winners.
The My Family Story project was brought to South Africa by the Israel Centre through their P2G division.
See the website for more information.
