Artist's Corner: Kremena Dimitrova - Blogpost 1

A new artist has been commissioned to respond to one of the 50 Jewish Objects. This is Kremena Dimitrova's first blogspot on her work.

At the end of last year, I was one of the artists commissioned by the Centre for Jewish Studies at The University of Manchester to work on the 50 Jewish Objects project. The commission involves selecting one or some of the 50 Jewish Objects and researching and visualising their histories using a graphic narrative approach (short story, panels or poster documented for internet usage) to become part of The University of Manchester collections in The John Rylands Library.

The variety of objects, which include manuscripts, printed books, letters, photographs, recordings related to Jewish culture, society and life, and their fascinating histories, made it very difficult to choose from. In the end, I decided to look at nine objects in more detail, some of which were a manuscript of Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil’s Sefer Mitzvot Qatan (Semaq), Genizah fragments of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, and a Hebrew amulet. 

This time last week, I had the pleasure of researching the objects at the John Rylands Library in Manchester and meeting the lovely and very helpful library staff.

After spending an afternoon with Professor Alexander Samely, who kindly provided me with brief histories of my selected objects, I decided to focus my research on and visually investigate the manuscript of Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil’s Sefer Mitzvot Qatan (Semaq) [John Rylands University Library, Hebrew MS 31].

This manuscript was possibly produced in the Duchy of Brabant around 1346. The Sefer Mitzvot Qatan (The Gates of Exile) also known as the Small Book of Commandments, of Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil is a thirteenth-century compendium of Jewish law. As an Illustrator, what drew my attention to this manuscript was that the legal material in it is enlivened by homilies, parables and stories. I was also drawn to the numerous hand-painted decorative illustrations and illuminated letters throughout the manuscript.

As an Illustrator-as-Historian, what drew my attention to this manuscript was the transparency of the layering of histories and historical fragmentation (the manuscript is rewritten as a newer and shorter version where the original text remains at a certain size while the new textual additions are in smaller writing). The writer of the manuscript does not try to conceal his comments on and/or interpretations of the original text, which is a curious practice I look forward to reading more about.

I responded to the manuscript by sketching and by making mental connections comparing its pages’ layouts with the construction of graphic narratives and writing about these in my journal.

At this initial stage of the research, I am engaged in reading a detailed description of the manuscript, including what is known about its history and about each decorated page, so I can identify what exactly I am interested in…

To find out more about my work, research and interests please see my website: www.kremenadimitrova.com.