1001 Lights: A Collective Exhibit of Solitary Reflection

By Anya Kowalchuk

February 12, 2018

On January 28th, the Jewish Museum of Montreal hosted a vernissage to celebrate the installation of their latest exhibit 1001 Lights. The project comes from artists Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer, who began collaborating in 1997. The exhibit consists of a 15-minute video projection, featuring various women lighting Shabbat candles- a consecrated tradition used to index the passage into the sacred day of rest. Passed between women, the meditative act links generations in a simultaneously collective, yet solitary moment of spiritual contemplation. The Shabbat, in its most fundamental sense marks a return to light. 1001 Lights then, studies the symbolic implications of this endeavor, through the ostensibly simple gesture of candle lighting, and invites viewers to explore the sacred space evoked by the process. The continuous repetition of the act intimately connects the viewer, encouraging their own state of reflection. By showing such a large variety of people executing the same gestures (100 women participated in the project) the video becomes “hypnotically repetitive, yet never redundant” as discrepancies of movement and style are registered in juxtaposition with uniform process. The instillation resonates with much of Millar and Szporer’s filmic oeuvre, which often employs movements of the human body as a means of exploring shared experiences. The full reach of the exhibition is realized in the final mosaic of moving images, faithfully lighting and re-lighting their candles, in a gradated assemblage of every participant, evoking the staggering breadth of this tradition, spanning inconceivable space and time.

The Vernissage offered a moment for Szporer and Millar to reflect on their sentimental connection to their latest project as well as their long standing professional relationship. Szporer cites his mother’s loyal dedication to the tradition of lighting Shabbat candles as his inspiration for realizing this project. It seems additionally appropriate that, in celebrating 20 years of collaboration, Millar and Szporer should exhibit a work so intimately bound up with collective tradition and reflection. 

The instillation will be playing at the Jewish Museum of Montreal daily until April 15th. At sunset, the installation will be projected and visible on the front window facing St. Laurent. 

Photos from the vernissage, courtesy of Nasuna Stuart-Ulin.