Berit Engen WEFT and D'RASH – A Thousand Jewish Tapestries

MY TAPESTRIES: 36 SERIES
- [a] _______________________
- Anticipation
- Torah and Beyond (I-?)
  - Torah and Beyond (I)
  - Torah and Beyond (II)
  - Torah and Beyond (III)
- The Story of Joseph
- Book of Prophets (I-?)
  - Book of Prophets (I)
  - Book of Prophets (II)
- And, Sheva N'viot
- Book of Psalms (I-?)
  - Book of Psalms (I)
  - Book of Psalms (IV)
  - Book of Psalms (V)
- THE Book of Misery
- The Five M'gillot (I-?)
  - The Five M'gillot (I) (Song of Songs)
  - The Five M'gillot (II) (Ruth)
  - The Five M'gillot (III) (Lamentations)
  - The Five M'gillot (IV) (Ecclesiastes)
  - The Five M'gillot (V) (Esther)
  - The Five M'gillot (VI)
- My Flaxen Tanakh Map
- PaRDeS (I-?)
  - PaRDeS (I)
  - PaRDeS (III)
- Mitzrayim, B’er Sheva, Givat ha’Aralot
- Our Sacred Scrolls (I-III)
  - Our Sacred Scrolls (I)
  - Our Sacred Scrolls (II)
  - Our Sacred Scrolls (III)
- [b] _______________________
- The Talmud (I-?)
  - The Talmud (I)
- "Hafokh v'Hapekh!" (I-?)
  - "Hafokh v'Hapekh!" (I)
  - "Hafokh v'Hapekh!" (II)
- The Mystical (I-?)
  - The Mystical (I)
  - The Mystical (II)
  - The Mystical (III)
  - The Mystical (IV)
  - The Mystical (V)
- [c] _______________________
- Our Prayerbook (I-?)
  - Our Prayerbook (I)
- The Most Beautiful Modim
- Kaddish in December
- uN'taneh Tokef
- Song of the Sea
- The Whimsical Haggadah (I-XIII)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (I)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (II)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (III)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (IV)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (V)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (VI)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (VII)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (VIII)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (IX)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (X)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (XI)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (XII)
  - The Whimsical Haggadah (XIII)
- [d] _______________________
- The Illuminated Shlep
- Holy Days (I-?)
  - Holy Days (I)
  - Holy Days (II)
  - Holy Days (III)
  - Holy Days (IV)
  - Holy Days (V)
  - Holy Days (VI)
  - Holy Days (VII)
- The Exile (I-?)
  - The Exile (I)
  - The Exile (II)
  - The Exile (III)
  - The Exile (IV)
  - The Exile (V)
  - The Exile (VI)
- Women of S'farad (I-?)
  - Women of S'farad (I)
  - Women of S'farad (II)
- Yiddishe Outpourings (I-?)
  - Yiddishe Outpourings (I)
  - Yiddishe Outpourings (II)
  - Yiddishe Outpourings (III)
  - Yiddishe Outpourings (IV)
  - Yiddishe Outpourings (V)
- The Shoah (I-II)
  - The Shoah (I)
  - The Shoah (II)
- The Land, ha'Aretz (I-?)
  - The Land (I)
- Lost but Found (I-III)
  - Lost but Found (I)
  - Lost but Found (II)
  - Lost But Found (III)
- [e] _______________________
- Solomonic Wisdom at the Kitchen Table (I-?)
  - Solomonic Wisdom at the Kitchen Table (I)
- Mount Sinai on Route 43
- Isaiah in Manhattan
- New Psalms for an Old Book (I-?)
  - New Psalms for an Old Book (I)
  - New Psalms for an Old Book (II)
  - New Psalms For an Old Book (III)
- [g] _______________________
- Last, My Tapestry Genizah (I-?)
  - Last, My Tapestry Genizah (I)
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ABOUT MY PROJECT
MY STORY
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TOOLS AND YARN
MOUNTING AND FRAMING
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THE ARTISTS' HAGGADAH
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CV
CONTACT
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MY TAPESTRIES: 36 SERIES > Torah and Beyond (I-?)

THE TORAH AND BEYOND (I)
– Love, Rivalry, and Murder, He Spoke

The siblings of Genesis provide quite some material for a holy text. This first book of the Torah is full of familiar and familial dramas; three of the storytelling tapestries take place in Exodus. The siblings’ relationships are woven in few and simple shapes. I have tried to portray the brothers’ and sisters’ emotions through body language, especially the positions and movements of their hands. Hands can show temper, personality, and attitude. Unlike manmade tools, they are always available to connect or push away.

- 12 tapestries (series completed).
- Click on images for more information.

Torah and Beyond (II)

TORAH AND BEYOND (II)
– Stories from Deep below the Heavens and a Little above the Earth

As the Biblical narratives describe the human struggle and the potential for achievements and failure in our relationship with God and with each other, they resonate with us in our efforts a few thousand years later.

A boat, a tower, a pillar of salt: I like how ideas can be expressed through stories with memorable objects.

- 8 single tapestries (series in progress).
- Click on images for more information.

Torah and Beyond (III)

TORAH AND BEYOND (III)
– Don’ts and Do’s in Crimson and Blue

The 613 commandments derived from the Torah give instructions for how to live our lives as individuals and as an organized community. I chose to make these tapestries colorful and lively, celebrating the idea that a regulated foundation – a constitution – is necessary for a society to exist and thrive.

God, as an imagined shape, appears only in the first tapestry. In the eight tapestries to follow, we glimpse God through God’s mitzvot. I wove people in a crimson color in the four tapestries that refer to negative commandments, and I wove them in purple-blue in the four last tapestries, which refer to positive commandments.

Both colors are mentioned in the Torah and commanded to be used in decorating the Tabernacle. This specific blue, t’khelet, gained importance in the Jewish tradition, but it is no longer used since it takes a mountain of a special mussel which lives only in a special place in the Mediterranean Sea to produce just a few ounces. The exact nuance of blue is not certain – I have imagined one that is a good match for crimson.

- 9 single tapestries; subseries completed.
- Click on images for more information.