The art of Holocaust Survivors Centre members has found a wider audience with the opening of an exhibition of their drawings and landscapes at the Wiener Library in central London.
Among the featured artists is Renie Inow, who came to England from Germany on the Kindertransport just before the start of the war. She worked for the Jewish Agency and a housing association before retirement and joined the HSC art group at its inception in 1993. She enjoys the social aspect of the class and has built a strong relationship with her teacher, Barbara Jackson, whose work has been exhibited in the UK and abroad.
"It was my parents who gave me and my siblings a love of nature," she recalled. "Most of my paintings have trees in them, which symbolise stability and life."
Ms Jackson said that although "it's not meant to be a therapy group, just the act of doing art together is very therapeutic in itself".
Added Aviva Trup, manager at the Jewish Care-administered HSC: "The art group is so important as a space for survivors and refugees to be able to connect with each other on another level."
The Wiener's Toby Simpson said it was "a real privilege for the library to be involved because we are an institution rooted in the experience of the survivor and refugee community".
