Roma artist, activist, writer, lyricist, and singer Ceija Stojka (1933-2013) began making art when she was in her late 50s.

Her childhood had been brutally disrupted by the German invasion of Austria in 1938, after which she and her family were deported to a succession of concentration camps, including Auschwitz, Ravensbrück, and Bergen-Belsen. Starting in the early 1990s, spurred by the resurgence of extreme right nationalism in Austria and abroad and by her experiences as a Holocaust survivor, she created works of profound beauty and horror.
The artist Zoe Leonard has been in conversation with the curator Lynne Cooke about Ceija's work for a few years now.

In this event, Zoe asks Lynne about her research and about what she has learned about Ceija and her work—and about what connections it might have to Lynne's landmark Outliers exhibition from 2018.

And last but very much not least, Zoe wants to talk about the significance of showing this body of work right now at this particular moment, in relation to the current rise of neo-nazism, the global authoritarian turn, and Ceija’s own turn of phrase: Auschwitz is only sleeping.

Ceija Stoijka: Making Visible, curated by Lynne Cooke, is on view at the Drawing Center until June 7th.