After-Hours Event on November 19 with Gypsy Dance Band Romashka, DJ Spinach, and More

Romashka

Release Date: November 2, 2015

After-Hours Event on November 19 with Gypsy Dance Band Romashka, DJ Spinach, and More

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Inspired by Early Soviet Photography & Film in The Power of Pictures

New York, NY – The Jewish Museum presents The Wind Up: The Power of Pictures, the next in its popular series of after-hours events, on Thursday, November 19 from 8pm to 11pm. Featuring live music, a photo booth, and an open bar with beer, wine, and vodka, The Wind Up is inspired by The Power of Pictures: Early Soviet Photography, Early Soviet Film, which explores how early modernist photography influenced a new Soviet style while energizing and expanding the nature of the medium.  The evening includes a performance by the raucous dance band Romashka, fronted by Lithuanian-born singer Inna Barmash, and a set by DJ Spinach, known for his unique mixture of world music sounds.  There will also be special exhibition tours of The Power of Pictures at 8:30pm and 9:30pm.

Tickets for the November 19 Wind Up are $13 in advance; $18 day of event. For further information, the public may call 212.423.3337. Tickets for this program can be purchased online at thejewishmuseum.org/thewindup. The Jewish Museum is located at Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, Manhattan.

Romashka is a driving force in New York City's burgeoning gypsy and Balkan music scene, playing gypsy and folk music from Russia, Romania, the Balkans, and beyond. Lithuanian-born singer Inna Barmash fronts a band of nine wildly versatile New York musicians, denizens of fertile downtown grounds. At full blast, Romashka has a violin, viola, accordion, guitar, trumpet, clarinet/saxophone, tuba, and percussion.

DJ Spinach (Igor Shorman) was born in Siberia and spent most of his early childhood in Moldova, where he was exposed to a variety of folk and ethnic music. He enjoyed playing with his stereo and drumming to the rhythms using house chairs. Music always fascinated him as a tool to transform reality. DJ Spinach began his career at house parties and friends’ birthdays and weddings, and now plays at dozens of concerts and parties in New York City and beyond. His music varies from ska, reggae, and rocksteady to jazzy hip-hop, afrobeat, funk, disco, soul, and retro world music from his personal vinyl collection.

From early vanguard constructivist works by Alexander Rodchenko and El Lissitzky, to the modernist images of Arkady Shaikhet and Max Penson, Soviet photographers played a pivotal role in the history of modern photography. The Power of Pictures: Early Soviet Photography, Early Soviet Film, on view through February 7, 2016, examines how photography, film, and poster art were harnessed to disseminate Communist ideology, revisiting a moment in history when artists acted as engines of social change and radical political engagement. Covering the period from the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution through the 1930s, the exhibition explores how early modernist photography and film influenced a new Soviet style while energizing and expanding the nature of the media. The Power of Pictures reveals how striking images by master photographers and filmmakers were seen as powerful propaganda tools in the new Soviet Union.

The Wind Up: The Power of Pictures is made possible, in part, through the generosity of Genesis Philanthropy Group.

Public programs are made possible by endowment support from the William Petschek Family, the Trustees of the Salo W. and Jeannette M. Baron Foundation, Barbara and Benjamin Zucker, the late William W. Hallo, the late Susanne Hallo Kalem, the late Ruth Hallo Landman, the Marshall M. Weinberg Fund, with additional support from Marshall M. Weinberg, the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Foundation, the Saul and Harriet M. Rothkopf Family Foundation, and Ellen Liman.  Additional support is provided by Lorraine and Martin Beitler, the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations, Genesis Philanthropy Group, and through public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

About the Jewish Museum

Located on Museum Mile at Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, the Jewish Museum is one of the world's preeminent institutions devoted to exploring art and Jewish culture from ancient to contemporary, offering intellectually engaging, educational, and provocative exhibitions and programs for people of all ages and backgrounds. The Museum was established in 1904, when Judge Mayer Sulzberger donated 26 ceremonial objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary as the core of a museum collection. Today, the Museum maintains a collection of over 30,000 works of art, artifacts, and broadcast media reflecting global Jewish identity, and presents a diverse schedule of internationally acclaimed temporary exhibitions. For general information, call 212.423.3200 or visit the Museum’s website at TheJewishMuseum.org.

Press contacts

Anne Scher, Molly Kurzius, or Alex Wittenberg

The Jewish Museum

212.423.3271 or pressoffice@thejm.org