When my grandmother turned 100, I wanted to give her a deeply personal gift, so I composed a piece based on her favorite poem, Goethe's "Gefunden." I recorded her reciting the poem in both the original German and its Hebrew translation, aiming to capture the poem's essence as she experienced it. I chose to preserve the authenticity of her recordings, leaving in her slight linguistic errors, embarrassed laughter, spontaneous comments, and other ambient sounds.
Born in Berlin in 1906, my grandmother immigrated to Israel in 1933. Though she spent 27 years in Germany and 75 years in Israel, her German remained flawless, marked by a distinct Berliner accent, while her Hebrew, spoken for most of her life, was less so. The poem itself reflects her life’s journey—a tale of forced uprooting and relocation, mirroring her own story.
Performances
22 Jun 2026 HaTeva Tel Aviv Israel
6 Sep 2011 Amos Elkana and Yael Toren (video-art) HaZira Performance Art Arena Jerusalem
16 Sep 2010 BELÉM ARTS CENTRE PASSEIO PEDONAL Portugal
14 Jun 2006 Amos Elkana (Electronics) Bard College Annandale-on-Hudson United States
