The Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre invites you to a participatory workshop to open the exhibition Sweet Home Sweet.

In 1942, Richard Ores buried a jar of photographs in the ground at Płaszów Concentration Camp. After the war, he dug it up. The photographs had survived. The exhibition traces the Ores family across generations, geographies, and loss – exploring what home means when it is something you carry, construct, and sometimes bury for safekeeping.

In this workshop, you are invited to think about your own jar. What would you place in it? What people, places, or objects hold your sense of home? Bring a photocopy of one or two photographs – of a person, a place, an object – anything that feels like home to you. It doesn’t need to be precious or perfect. Together, we will map, reflect, and explore what home means and how we hold it.

Please note: the workshop is limited to 30 people so RSVP is essential

About the exhibition:

Richard Ores was born to a Jewish family in the centre of Kraków. He was fifteen years old when the war broke out. He survived and spent most of the rest of his life in the United States. Even though he lived there for more than fifty years, he continued to feel deeply connected to Poland. He made dozens of trips back to his hometown, often bringing his family with him.

This exhibition tells the story of Richard, his family, and their relationship to Poland over nearly a century. Richard was fascinated with photography and filmmaking his entire life, endlessly documenting his experiences and the people around him. In creating this exhibition, we relied on many of the photos and videos Richard created, as well as interviews with members of his family.