The Papercut Haggadah

Pesach - Passover in English - is the Jewish festival commemorating the exodus of the Israelites (Jewish slaves) from Egypt during the reign of the Pharaoh Ramses II. On the first night of Passover the story of the Exodus is retold through the reading of the Haggadah while seated around the Seder table - the focal point of the Passover celebration.

The word Seder derives from the Hebrew word meaning "order," because the story of the enslavement and redemption of the People of Israel is traditionally discussed in a specific order. We are meant to re-experience the slavery and the redemption that occurs in each day of our lives. It is our own story, not just some ancient history that we retell at Pesach.

Archie Granot was privately commissioned to create a Papercut Haggadah, unique in conception, design and execution. Every element of the Haggadah, including the text, is cut out. As every pages is different both in color and feel, continuity is imposed by the calligraphy of the Haggadah text that "flows" across the work.

Archie Granot began work on this project in 1998 which he completed in November 2007. The Haggadah contains 55 pages, each measuring approximately 21" x 15". It has received its first public showing beginning March 2, 2008 through August 31, 2008 at Yeshivah University Museum, New York. The Haggadah exhibited at the Loyola Museum of Art, Chicago in 2009. The Haggadah was shown for the 3rd time opened at Saint Louis University's Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA) in 2012.

It is to show again at the Museum of Biblical Art, New York during the summer of 2013.

Due to the size and weight of the individual pages, the completed work is not bound but each page, upon completion, has been individually framed in New York by Hirsch & Associates Fine Art Services, Inc.

Click on any of the images in the gallery below for a larger view.
 

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