About Alice Lok Cahana. A survivor of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, Alice Lok Cahana’s abstract representations of her experiences are in major museums and collections around the world, including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC; Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem, Israel and the Holocaust Museum Houston. In 2006, Alice Cahana presented a significant piece of artwork to his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. The painting, “No Names” hangs today in the Vatican museum as the only piece of Holocaust artwork in the Vatican’s vast collection. Its powerful imagery of a field of numbers representing the stolen names and identities of the Nazi’s victims stands at the entrance to the Sistine Chapel.

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Yom Hashoah Community Commemoration
April 19 - 23, 2009

A historic community-wide commemoration of the Holocaust will be held in Portland, honoring the memory of those who perished and sharing the stories of survivors. A week-long series of events will bring together an extraordinary coalition of Jewish, Catholic, civic and arts organizations. The event’s focus is on the work and message of internationally acclaimed modern artist and Holocaust survivor, Alice Lok Cahana, whose painting, “From Ashes to the Rainbow,” sums up the artist’s transformative message of hope. This event, co-hosted by Catholic and Jewish agencies reaffirms the close ties between these two Portland communities.

Sunday, April 19 at 11:30a, Portland Center Stage
Daniel J. & Elizabeth O. Cohn Lecture, a conversation with Alice Lok Cahana and Prudence Roberts, moderated by Oregon Jewish Museum Director, Judith Margles.

Monday, April 20 at 7:00p, Portland Center Erev of International Holocaust Memorial Day (Yom Hashoah), honoring local Holocaust survivors, with keynote speaker Archbishop John G. Vlazny of the Portland Catholic Archdiocese, introduced by Rabbi Emanuel Rose, followed by “Through My Mother’s Eyes,” a program of the poetry and remembrances of Alice Cahana presented by Michael Cahana and Cantor Ida Rae Cahana with Yiddish art songs, accompanied by acclaimed pianist Janet Guggenheim.

Thursday, April 23 at 7:00p in the Whitsell Auditorium
at the Portland Art Museum, the NW Film Center’s Jewish Film Festival will present “The Last Days,” the Academy Award-winning documentary about 5 Hungarian Holocaust survivors produced by Steven Spielberg and featuring Alice Lok Cahana.