Artist in residence: Bettina Caro paints a picture of her Moroccan heritage
Chabad Hampstead Garden Suburb hosts Sephardi creative
It was standing room only at Chabad Hampstead Garden Suburb this week, for an evening co-hosted with the British Friends of the Art Museums of Israel that transported the audience from the cold of North London to the heat and colour of Jewish Morocco in the company of Sephardi artist Bettina Caro.
In conversation with collector and BFAMI co-chair Pamela Crystal, who grew up in Spain but whose mother, like Caro’s, is from Tangiers, the two women spoke about the importance of celebrating their heritage.
With many of Bettina’s paintings on show, subjects include Sephardi synagogues such as the Santa Maria la Blanca and Transito Synagogues of Toledo, the Cordoba Synagogue and the Tangiers Synagogue in which she worshipped as a child.
Whilst many of these synagogues are no longer used regularly for worship, Caro said: “I paint these lost treasures which need to be captured on canvas so that they can be available for future generations to admire.’
Her best-known works depict Moroccan Jewish brides wearing their traditional dress, either preparing for the wedding ceremony or taking part in the Noche de Berberisca, the ceremony held before the wedding.
Caro pays particular attention to the bridal outfit, explaining ‘the motifs are deeply symbolic. The skirt is embroidered with gold stripes. These can number either twelve, representing the twelve tribes of Israel or 22, representing the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
“I am particularly drawn to the headdress called the Jemaar which looks so like a crown. I was lucky enough to wear a dress brought to me by my cousin from Madrid and was delighted that my three daughters continued this tradition at their own henna ceremonies.”
The evening formed part of a new series of talks entitled Forever Again organised by Chabad Hampstead Garden Suburb to reclaim the narrative of the Jewish people from fear and threat to pride and celebration.
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