Pens, Inks, and Wild Hand Puppets: the Kinetic Artwork of Zuni Maud and Yosl Cutler, with Eddy Portnoy

The Annual Clara Summit Lecture Series features Eddy Portnoy, Academic Advisor and Exhibitions Curator at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Presented by Taube Center for Jewish Studies, Stanford University.

In late 1925, cartoonists and book illustrators Zuni Maud and Yosl Cutler—an artistic team given to a type of Yiddish surrealism—fell upon the idea of creating a Yiddish puppet theater. An immediate hit on the Lower East Side, their hilarious puppet plays were performed to sold-out crowds all over the United States, Europe, and the Soviet Union. Fusing Jewish tradition with high art and left-wing politics, Maud and Cutler created a unique Yiddish experience. Using photos, illustrations, and film clips, this lecture, will detail the compelling story of this unusual Yiddish artistic duo.

Both online and In person at Stanford University, in Yiddish.

See also English lecture by Eddy Portnoy the previous day, Tuesday, May 17.