Between Two Worlds was commissioned by Random Acts Music Theatre as a collaboration between
photographer Lizzie Coombes, writer Rachel Feldberg and a group of former Jewish refugees who
escaped Nazi Germany and settled in West Yorkshire more than fifty years ago. Now in their seventies
and eighties, they wanted to pass on their stories, so that people of all ages could understand at first
hand what it means to be uprooted and start life again in a new country. Their hope is that through
fostering common understanding we can ensure such events never happen again. The project hopes
to make a connection with the experience of contemporary refugees and with all those who feel they
live ‘between two worlds.’
Over a period of months, Lizzie and Rachel visited each of the contributors in their home. While Rachel
recorded and transcribed their stories, Lizzie worked to create informal portraits of each person and their
possessions in familiar surroundings. Each contributor then edited and corrected their interview* and
with Lizzie, selected the most resonant photographs from the mass of images she had produced.
Lizzie wanted to portray the everyday, the ordinary; the pictures on the living room walls; the
ornaments and souvenirs collected over the years; books on the shelves; photos taken at school.
The results are snaps of people at home, relaxing over a cup of tea... life continuing. They are also
images of people who belong in two different worlds, where the past is always part of the present.
The project began as a small exhibition alongside a new chamber opera, ‘The Landau Papers’, which
was first performed as part of the UK Year of the Artist in 2001. The huge interest in this material has
meant that it has grown to include an interactive exhibition and work pack, (available free of charge
to schools in Yorkshire) and, finally, as a lasting reminder, this book.

Rachel Feldberg, Random Acts Music Theatre, 2002

the book in pdf format 1.8mb
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