'Gathering Sparks: The art of Siona Benjamin'

Siona Benjamin with "Lilith," gouache and 22K gold leaf on paper. Benjamin's work will be on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art, Cong. Rodeph Shalom, through Mar. 10. Before the Nov. 26 terrorist attack at Nariman House in Mumbai, who knew there were Jews in India?

For those who didn't, Mumbai has been home to a historically significant Jewish community called Bene Israel ("sons of Israel"), whose origin may date back to the days of King Solomon. In the late 18th Century when the city was then British Bombay, an influx of Jews arrived from the Middle East. They became leading businessmen in the newly established international trading companies that benefited from the city's deep water seaport.

From the 1950s to the early 1970s, the population dwindled as Jews immigrated to Israel, yet those remaining lived comfortably as a minority in a predominantly Hindu and Muslim society. Excluding Westerners and Israelis, Mumbai's South Asian Jewish population presently numbers around 4,000.

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Siona Benjamin is a Bene Israel Jew and an artist with a well-established career. Born and raised in Bombay but now living in Montclair, New Jersey, she is having a solo exhibition called "Gathering Sparks" at the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art at Cong. Rodeph Shalom on North Broad St. Her paintings, watercolors, and mixed media installations address contemporary themes of race, gender, politics, and identity. Like Thomas Eakins and Frida Kahlo, she examines are entire life in her art.

Tracing her roots back at least nine generations, Benjamin grew up in a family that fervently practiced Judaism in a Bollywood suburb of Bombay. Viewing Benjamin's work recently, Laura Levitt, director of Jewish Studies at Temple University, noted: "We thought we knew what Jewish looked like," yet Siona Benjamin "shows Jewishness otherwise."

For Benjamin, Judaism extends well beyond an Ashkenazi point of view. She has fond childhood memories of her ornate Bombay synagogue with its decorative liturgical objects, the fabriccovered chair left empty for Elijah in the sanctuary, and the high Holiday foods prepared with coconut milk, dried fruits, and even edible gold and silver papers.

As a Jew in India, she recalls no instances of discrimination. Here in the United States, however, she says, "I get negativity and racism from Ashkenazi Jews who sometimes treat colored Jews like second class citizens or don't want to acknowledge them. . . It saddens me so much that it comes from other Jewish people, who have experienced this themselves in Europe."

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"Gathering Sparks: The Art of Siona Benjamin" was organized by curator Wendi Furman and presents 21 wellchosen works to provide a mini-survey covering the past 10 years of her international career. The title of the exhibit relates to tikkun olam, a need to repair the world by gathering the holy sparks of spiritual light. Benjamin's goal is "to make art that will speak to my audience of our similarities not our differences … I can contribute to a muchneeded 'tikkun') through my art. I would like my audience to re-evaluate their notions and concepts about identity and race, thus understanding that such misconceptions could lead to racism, hate and war."

Using gouache paints and accents of 22K gold leaf, she creates paintings and threedimensional constructions of exquisite craftsmanship. Bridging the old and new worlds, the artist is inspired by Indian/Persian miniatures, Byzantine icons, Christian illuminated manuscripts, American Pop Art, and the popular cultures of India and the United States. She incorporates words in English, Hebrew, and Hindi for both their meaning and calligraphic aesthetic, making them important pictorial components. Moreover, her frames with dozens of toy soldiers or cut wood to mimic the fanciful window grilles of traditional Indian palaces make some of the installations seem like secular altarpieces.

Benjamin commonly paints her female characters and self-portraits with blue skin, "a symbol of being a Jewish woman of color" that provides a bit of provocative theatricality (she holds two MFA degrees in painting and theater set design, while recalling the blue god Krishna to give added nuance to the imagery.

"Blue could be everybody and nobody," she says. Her richly layered art delivers a powerful message about the human condition.

"I have always had to reflect upon the cultural boundaries in which I have lived . . . I raise questions what and where is home."

Having now lived in the United States for 22 years (her mother, uncle and several cousins still live in India), she says, "I don't care where is home. It is OK to belong everywhere and nowhere."

"Gathering Sparks: The Art of Siona Benjamin" at the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art until Mar. 10, 2009 at Cong. Rodeph Shalom, 615 North Broad St. Free and open to the public For information, call 215-627-6747. On Feb. 8, 2009 at 10:15 a.m., Siona Benjamin will present a free talk called "Blue Like Me" at Cong. Rodeph Shalom. .