Hybrid project by Hannah and Jakob Zacharias DE · EN Yiddish in Stommeln
Concept

שטאָמעלן

This project begins with a simple gesture: writing the word Stommeln in Yiddish. In doing so, it reconnects the synagogue not only with the memory of Jewish life, but with Jewish presence in the present.

Today, the synagogue exists both as a memorial site and as a site for contemporary art. By writing Stommeln in Yiddish here and now, the project brings remembrance and contemporary Jewish cultural existence together through visibility, language, and encounter.

The project is hybrid. It unfolds through clothing, prints on paper, a canvas, downloadable SVG and PNG files, and a moving text field inspired by Charles Sandison.

Open screen mode Open canvas only
Behavior שטאָמעלן and Stommeln drift freely, gather at shared points, and disperse again.
Use Works as projection loop, monitor piece, or dark-room screen surface within the larger project.
Site Weekly market, site-related presentation, public encounter, live language.
Why Yiddish

Why write the word Stommeln in Yiddish?

Writing the word Stommeln in Yiddish reconnects the synagogue with the memory of Jewish life, while also marking Jewish presence in the present. The word becomes visible where encounter can happen.

It can also be understood as a gesture of reclaiming Jewish linguistic and cultural presence in public space through visibility, language, and encounter. On the weekly market, the word becomes live language rather than only archive.

Memory The synagogue remains connected to Jewish history and historical memory.
Presence The word appears in the present tense, not only as archive, but as active language.
Encounter On the market, the word becomes part of a public situation of looking, speaking, and meeting.
Hybrid project by Hannah and Jakob Zacharias
Black hoodie with the slogan Stommeln in Yiddish Print on paper with the slogan Stommeln in Yiddish
Shop page

Hoodies, T-shirts, print, canvas, and the animation carrier are gathered separately so the main page stays focused.

Open shop page
Public situation

The weekly market is part of the work.

The weekly market, site-related presentation, public encounter, and live language appear here as part of the same project logic.
Weekly market The work enters an active local routine rather than staying inside exhibition space only.
Site-related presentation The site-related presentation becomes part of the piece and of its address.
Public encounter People meet the word in passing, in conversation, and in shared space.
Live language Yiddish appears as something present and spoken, not only remembered.
Weekly market
Site-related presentation
Public encounter
Live language
שטאָמעלן

An important part of this project is a stand at the weekly market in Stommeln as a site-related presentation.

The project unfolds physically at that site and digitally through garments, prints, image files, and screen-based formats. The same word moves between market, memorial site, contemporary art context, and public encounter.

Marktplatz Hauptstraße / Venloer Straße
50259 Pulheim
Background image: Von Mabit1 - Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
This project is part of the project Stommeln Synagogue – Reviving Jewish Heritage.