Paneriai is the Lithuanian name for Ponar (Ponary in Polish), the site of one of the worst massacres of Jews during World War II. For Barbara Michelman Panieriai is a landscape of loss and silence – a silence exemplified by her father who was born there. Though he escaped the slaughter, he was nevertheless broken by its haunting dimensions. In her solo-exhibition Past is Prologue, a series of photo montages with text, Michelman takes a journey of discovery into her family’s Lithuanian past. The result is a fascinating palimpsest of images echoing with the voices of the vanished.
Michelman studied art history in Florence, Italy and graduated with a BA in philosophy from UC Berkeley. She did post-graduate work in film at SFSU and in sociology and psychology at Humboldt State University. One of the first women in the Lighting Union in Hollywood, she began her career working in all the major film studios. A prolific photographer and digital artist, she resides in the Bay Area.