TODA RABA , RITA!

Thank You, Rita!

The month of August this year (2018) marks an important moment for
the Jewish History and Culture Museum in Romania: the donation of
six sculpture pieces by well known artists Rita Şapira Sain dedicated
to the Fedration of the Jewish Communities in Romania and hosted by
our Museum, an event completed by a large personal exhibition of the
artist. The President of the Jewish Federation, Dr. Aurel Vainer expresses his deepest gratitude
and thanksgiving for the generosity of Mrs. Rita ŞapiraSain and for the noble act of her donation.
The art of Rita Şapira tends to reflect the cultural disposition of its time and space, a mood for
diversity and metamorphosis, to innovation and to remembrance, but regardless of the moment
of creation, the art of RITA ŞAPIRA is timeless relating to topics like The Family, Maternity,
biblical themes.
I visited her a few months ago with Mrs. Anca Tudorancea from the Center for the Study of
Romanian Jewish History and I was browsing her family photo album, picturing a smart and
dynamic little girl whose worry-free life was suddenly interrupted by the Holocaust, with images
of a vulnerable teenager, and then of a young shy woman with a re-emerging smile along her
husband and parents in the 1960s. These are archive images showing the artist ‘s face eternally
concerned about recreating fragments of the past, stories with and about children, biblical stories
or allegories of mental states coming from a secret journal brought to light, a diary transformed
into visual realities of each of us.

As an artist, Rita Şapira began her career in Bucharest at the class of sculptor Cornel Medrea,
from which she inherited the simple and robust forms. She emigrated to Israel in 1972 and in a
few years she successfully exhibited both in Israel, in Europe and the US, then returning to
Romania and becoming since 1999, a member of the Romanian Artists Union. What you see at
the Museum of Jewish History and Culture is just a small part of her story and creative soul, a
cultural heritage that urges us to keep the innocence of childhood alive, reminds us of the
fragility and vulnerability of human existence endowed with happiness, with optimism and hope.
After all the horrors of the past century, her optimism is emblematic: Maternity, Innocence,
Children playing with the Ball, are just some of the most prominent themes explored in her art,
themes of a valid intimate world.

The attention and meticulousness for details in creating her tapestry compositions is essential to
Rita elaborating a truly intricate lace out of Manila string. Whether they are small, monochrome,
whether they are large and colorful, Rita's tapestries implement the movement of plans and
perspective, with the aim of creating an energetic, optimistic and dynamic flow.

Every person is unique in her/his own way, has her/his own set of values and personality that
will draw that person’s unique mission in life. A person who helps a neighbour, who gives out of
very little just to create pleasant moments, is a generous person. This skill, which is not for
everyone, is a valuable feature with which one is born with and which grows through education
and the right advice received from parents and grandparents.

We thank Rita Şapira because by aknowledging your personal inheritance you have not only
allowed us to identify with your stories and feelings, but also you mandated us to be the keepers
and followers of your artistic legacy. Carmen Iovitu

The artist’s works can be seen in state and private collections in Canada, Mexic, USA,
Switzerland, Romania and Israel.

ONE - PERSON EXHIBITIONS

1980 ISRAEL Old Jaffa - Riebenffeld Gallery
1981 1986 Rehovot - Rehovot Gallery
1983 1987 Aschelon - ElyHouse
1984 Jerusalem - Tsfta Gallery
1987 Tel-Aviv - America House
1989 SWITZERLAND - Argos Gallery, Geneva
1991 ROMANIA - Eforie Gallery, Bucharest
1992 ROMANIA - Cris Museum, Oradea
1992 ROMANIA - Art Gallery, Timisoara
1993 ROMANIA - ArtMuseum Baia Mare
1993 ROMANIA - ArtMuseum, Botosani
1993 ROMANIA - Romanian Cultural Foundation
1993 AUSTRIA - Romanian Cultural Center, Viena
1993 FINLAND -Tokol Gallery, Helsinki
1993 ITALY -San Vidal Gallery, Biennial, Venice
1995 SWEDEN – ArtAdiction Gallery, Stocholm
1997 SWEDEN – ArtAdiction Gallery, Stocholm
1996 USA -Romania Cultural Center, New York
1996 USA - Riloff Gallery, New York
1997 ITALY – Accademia di Romania, Roma
2000 ISRAEL - The inauguration: "Rita'sgarden of sculptures"
2012 - Romania - the Vilage National Museum, Bucharest
AWARDS:
1958 Second prize for sculpture – "Maternity"
1995 First Prize andGoldMedal for sculpture – "Innocence" in Stockholm
1997 First Prize andGoldMedal for sculpture – Stockholm
DONATIONS:
1995 Sculpture "The Prayer" – bronze – Weitzman Science Institute – Israel
1995 Sculpture "Applauses" – bronze – Romania -Israel Commerce Chamber
1997 Sculpture "ChildrenPlayng" – bronze – UNICEF House – New York
2000 ISRAEL - "Rita's Garden of Sculptures", eight statues, natural size, bronze.