Der Standard - 17.02.2020

ARTS&DESIGN

4 THE NEWYORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY MONDAY,FEBRUARY17, 2020

ByALEXCARP

In its50years ontelevision,

“SesameStreet”has presentedan

expansive idea of thechallenges of

childhood,offering lessonsondi-

vorce, racism,grievingand autism

—aswellashelpwiththe alphabet.

This month,anew versionofthe

show, called “Ahlan Simsim,” or

“WelcomeSesame,” beganairing

foran audience that,lessthana

decade ago, didn’t exist: children

displacedbythewar in Syriaand

theirneighborsinthe communities

wheremany of therefugeeshave

fled or sought asylum.

“Oncerefugeesare displacedfor

at leastfiveyears,asisthe case for

mostSyrian refugees,”the pres-

identofthe International Rescue

Committee,David Miliband,saidat

aSenate hearinglastyear, they’re

likely to stay displaced for more

thantwodecades.

“SesameStreet” became aglobal

modelforearly-childhood educa-

tion.Itsnewproject,startedwiththe

I.R.C.and educatorsin Syria, Iraq,

Jordan andLebanon,isaneffortto

rethinkhumanit arianaid.“Aidis

good at keeping peoplealive,” Mr.

Miliband hasargued. “But itdoesn’t

give them thetools tothrive.”

Achildhood of makeshifthousing,

isolationfrom an extended commu-

nity of familiar faces,and fewsafe

placesto play canaffectnot only

children’s behavior andlearning

skillsbut also brain development.

“Itcan be very hard to moderate,or

to cope,” said SherrieWestin,Sesa-

me Workshop’spres identfor social

impactand philanthropy. Prelimi-

nary research conductedin Jordan

andLebanon foundthat displaced

children have troublefind ingthe

language to expresstheiremotions.

They describe whatthey feelonly

broadly:sad,happy,scared.

Theshowwillfocusonidentifying

andmanagingemotions,and willbe

coupledwiththousands of outreach

workersgoingto clinics, community

centers, homesandother gathering

spacesinthe four countries,where

they willmeetwithchildren,par-

ents andcaregiverstoprovide sup-

portandextendmanylessonsof the

series.Today,lessthan2percent

of humanitarian aidworldwide is

aimedateducation,“andjustatiny

fraction of that goes to earlyeduca-

tion,” Ms.Westin said.

Theshowwill startwith

thebasics. “Wewantthis

first seasontodiveinto

identifying differentemo-

tions, like frustration and

anger, nervousnessand

loneliness,fear,”saidScott

Cameron,anexecutive pro-

duceratSesameWorkshop.

“But we also have to make

that entertaining.”

“AhlanSimsim,” which

willairinArabicand Kurd-

ish, hastwomain charac-

ters, Basmaand Jad, “who

go onadventurestogether,”

Mr.Cameronsaid. They are

joinedbyMa’zooza,agoat

whoprovidescomic relief.

Sesameestimatesthat

theproject,throughtelevi-

sion,mobilephones,home

visits, preschoolsand theefforts

of educatorsacrossthe region, will

reachnine million children —what

they expectto be thelargest ear-

ly-childhoodintervention inthehis-

tory of humanitarianresponse.

“Wewantthisprojecttobeamod-

el forhumanitarian response not

just in theMiddleEast, ”Ms. Westin

said,“butfor refugeechildrenwher-

ever they maybe.”

Iwas inmiddleschool whenTay-
lor Swiftbeganwhisperingfairy
talesinmyear.
“Fearless” dropped whenIwas
11 —filledwithstories ofunrequited
crushesandShake-
speareanromance
andknights in shin-
ingarmor.On“Speak
Now,”whenIwas13,
there were kisses in
therain, dragonsto
fight,kingdoms to save.
Ms.Swif tpeddled escapism, and
Iwas aneagercustomer. Whydeal
with themundane realityofado-
lescencewhenIcouldbe in aworld
wherethegirlgetsthe guy?
It’s that girlIwasthenwho want-
ed to see“Miss Americana,”now
on Netflix. Lana Wilson’sdocumen-
tary followsMs. Swiftthrough the
past coupleof years, from the“Rep-
utation”era —her popdarkhorse
of asixth album—to thecreationof
“Lover,” herlatest(and much fluffi-
er)work, released in August.
Inever used to care much about
what shewas like offstage.But
overthe years, doubts about Ms.
Swift—her authenticity,her mo-
tivations —had creptin. Iwanted
to get clarity on whetherapublic
figure I’dgrown up supportingwas
as “calculated” as thetabloidshad
made her outto be.
Howgenuinewas Ms.Swift’s
newfound interest in political
commentary?Orher forayinto
L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy?
Part of thisshift, of course,isthat
Igrewup. Tenyears ago, Ididn’t

care that much aboutMs. Swift’s
silenceonevery issue.But as I
grew closertovotingage,Istarted
thinking morecritic ally:Whatare
theimplicationsofsomeonehaving
amassiveplatformand not making
useof it?
Istarted watching“Miss Amer-
icana” certainofwhat Iwould
see: some songwritingbehindthe
scenes,Ms. Swiftclapping back
overnegative mediacoverage,afew
shotsofher cats.
Butthe onethingIdidn’t expect
washow genuinethe film wouldfeel.
There were conversationsabout
trying to keep aneating disorderat
bay, about sexualassaultand search-
ingfor justicefromaplaceof privi-
lege,about amanbreaking into her
apartmentand sleepingin herbed.
Myquestionsabout herabrupt
shiftintopoliti cs andadvocacywere
answered, too, with Ms.Swift’s
heartfeltpleas to her team that she
be on the“rightsideofhistory.”
I’ve longtriedtoreconcile my
sentimentalityformychildhood
soundtrackwith my reluctanceto
embracethe womanwho createdit.
“MissAmericana”makesone
thingclear:Ms. Swiftisn’tuntouch-
able,asshe had onceseemed. Now,
for araremoment, she’s under-
standable. Forafarawayfan start-
ingtocomebackintothe fold,that’s
worthmuchmore.

ByJASONFARAGO

MADRID —Atfirst thesoldiers

of theRed Army foundalmost noth-

ingwhentheyreached thecampin

thesouthwest ofoccupiedPoland

that January. TheretreatingNa-

zishad blownup itscrematories,

dismantled itsgas chambers;the

prisoners hadbeen marchedwest,

in thefreezingcold. Only later,as

theSoviets liberatedAuschwitz 75

yearsago, didtheydisc over thelast

survivors,too ill or youngtoleave

theinferno where atleast1.1 million

peopleweremurdered,90 percent

of them Jews.

Immediatelyafter thewar,writ-

ersand philosophersmaintained

that thedeath campsdefiedrepre-

sentation;noart coulddojustice to

theirhorrors.Yet survivors them-

selves,asearly asPrimo Levi’s 1947

memoir,“If This Is aMan,” have

forced themselves to make senseof

thehorrors they endured inart.And

as Auschwitzrecedes into history

andthe last survivorsdisappear,

therearevoiceseventhe greatest

skepticofrepresentati on cannot af-

fordto tune out.

Oneistheself-taught Austri-

an artist Ceija Stojka(1933-2013),

amember oftheRomaminority

(sometimesderogatorily called

“Gypsies”),who turned theordeals

of thecamps into an artofimmense

power. At 10,she wasdeportedto

Auschwitz, thefirst of three camps

shewould outlast.She slept onthe

pathwaytothe gaschambers, and

hidamong heapsofcorpses;she

survivedbyeatingtreesap.

Formorethan 40 yearsshe kept

quietabout what shehad withstood.

Then it floodedout:scenesofrhap-

sodicchildhood andunspeakable

torture, paintedwithrunnypig-

mentand brazencolors.

Shemademorethan 1,000such

paintings anddrawingsbetween

1990and her deathin2013, of bar-

racksand cattle cars,sadisticka-

posand emaciatedprisoners.More

than 100ofthemare ondisplay at

theMuseo ReinaSofía,inMadrid,

throughMarch 23.

Ms.Stojkawas one of sixchildren

in afamilyofnomadic horse-trad-

ers. After theNazis annexed

Austria, they settledinVienna.

Aprologuetothe Reina Sofíaex-

hibition includes someof the“light

painti ngs” Ms.Stojkamadeofher

childhood.Women in kerchiefs and

longdressesasthe sunsetsbeside

theircaravans. Sunflowers that

blossomlikefireworks.

In 1941,her fatherwas deported

to Dachau;hewouldlaterbe mur-

deredatwhatwas called a“eutha-

nasiacenter.” Thenextyear, Hein-

rich Himmlerissuedadecree that

“all Gypsymixed-bloods” were to

be deported to Auschwitz.

Ms.Stojkawouldpaintthe cattle

carinwhich she wasdeported. She

arrivedatAuschwitz inMarch1943.

Herarm wastattooedwith Z-6399.

TheZstood for Zigeuner, “Gypsy.”

Shepainted that too.

Herpaintings of Auschwitz burn

with rage andshame.Prisoners

peerfromtheirbarracksasthe ka-

poswieldbullwhips, whilewraith-

likecaptiveswalksingle-file past

acartfullofcorpse s. Nude women

marchatgunpointintothe lethal

showers.The skyrotsintoanoth-

erworldly purple interruptedbythe

whitesmokeofthecrematorium.

Andbodies: faceless,reduced in

places toafew strokes of black.

Compared to theHolocaust of

EuropeanJewry,the Roma exter-

minationhas beenlessstudiedand

less commemorated. No authorita-

tive deathtollhas beenestablished;

estimates rangefrom250,000to

500,000people, or up to halfthe Ro-

ma population of Europe. Theirper-

secution went on afterWorld WarII,

andstill does.In2018, MatteoSal-

vini,the leader ofItaly’sfar-right

League party, proposed acensus

of theRomapopulationaspartofa

“masscleansing.”

In 1944,Ms. Stojka andher family

were transferredtoRavensbrück,

weeksbeforealltheremaining

Romaprisoners of Auschwitz were

gassed on asinglenight.She was

movedagain,toBergen-Belsen,

at thestart of 1945.InMs. Stojka’s

paintings of thisfinal camp,fires

rage before hectares of blackearth,

andskeletonslietangled in dark-

ness;asingleprisoner,stranded

in thesnow, looksgoggle-eyed at a

pair of b lackbirdsonabarbed-wire

fence.

TheBritish liberatedBer-

gen-BelsenthatApril.Ceija and

hermotherwalkedacrossGerma-

ny andCzechoslovakiatoVienna.

Sheresumedanitinerantlifeat

first,thenspent decadesasacarpet

seller. Only in 1988, encouraged by

thedocumentary filmmaker Kar-

in Berge r, didshe beginto speak

of what she survivedand to teach

herselftopaint.Her writingand art

made herapublicfigureinAustria,

as well as an advocate forRoma

across Europe.

In oldage Ms.Stojkawould treat

her tattoo almost as an insignia;

aphotomural at theReinaSofía

showsher smilingfor aportrait,

cigarettebet ween herfingers,her

number proudlyvisible.

“How cantheysay,‘There wasno

Auschwitz’?”she once retorted.“I

have it rightonmyarm.”

Ayoungfanoflyrical

fairytalesgrowsup,

alongwiththesinger.

PopIdol,

SeenIn

NewLight

‘Sesame Street’ Tr avels

To ComfortSyrianRefugees

SurvivorPainted

The Nazi Horrors

NANCY

COLEMAN

ESSAY

NETFLIX
“MissAmericana”offers
aglimpseatTaylorSwift’s
strugglesandbeliefs.

RYANDONNELL/SESAMEWORKSHOP

“A hlanSimsim”wasdevelopedfor

refugeechildren. Thecharacters

BasmaandJadridingabus.

CEIJASTOJKA/ARTISTSRIGHTSSOCIETY(ARS),NEWYORK/BILDRECHT,VIENNA;COLLECTIONOFANTOINEDEGALBERT,PARIS

TheAustrian

artist CeijaStojka

portrayedher

captivityinNazi

deathcamps,and

her lifebefore

that inafamily

of nomadicRoma

horse-traders.She

alsopaintedthe

numberthat the

Nazistattooedon

herarm.

Decadeslater,bearing

witnesstoEurope’s

Roma genocide.

CEIJASTOJKA/ARTISTSRIGHTSSOCIETY(ARS),NEWYORK/BILDRECHT,VIENNA;COLLECTION

OFNUNA&HOJDASTOJKA.CEIJASTOJKAINTERNATIONALFUND,VIENNA

CHRISTASCHNEPF