Speak Up Speak Out - Holocaust Memorial Day at M Shed

Visitors to M Shed on Friday, January 27 will be able to commemorate national Holocaust Memorial Day by taking part in a series of free events at the museum from 10.30am to 4pm. The day's activities have been designed around the 2012 theme: 'Speak Up Speak Out' and focus on acts of resistance, persecution and inequality.

Visitors will be able to see one of the current exhibitions, 'Resistance: Which way to the future?' an award-winning film installation which looks at the Nazi persecution of disabled people, and asks how this history has affected today's society. Resistance will be screened throughout the day.

A special 'Resistance Trail' will be available for visitors to take around the galleries as they explore M Shed. The 'Resistance Trail' shows how, through the ages, people in Bristol have spoken up against discrimination and inequality.

Also on the day, M Shed's foyer will become a performance space for music with the Chai for Two Klezmer Ensemble, who will be performing from 12.30pm to1.30pm.  Klezmer is traditional Jewish folk music that originated in pre-World War II Eastern Europe.
Visitors will also be able to view Conflict: a Bristol Perspective, a series of filmed interviews with people who came to Bristol as a result of persecution around the world, conducted by pupils from Ashton Park Secondary School.

On Tuesday evening, January 24
In the evening, there will be a free talk and discussion led by activist and award-winning artist, Liz Crow. Liz will cover her experience of making the film-installation 'Resistance: Which way to the future?' and the history of the Nazi Aktion T4 program against disabled people and what it means for today's society. Liz will also highlight her controversial appearance on the Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth as part of Anthony Gormley's "One & Other project”, giving an insight into the role of art and storytelling in challenging attitudes surrounding disability. A British Sign Language interpreter will be present to translate the talk.

· Holocaust Memorial Day is dedicated to the remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust by marking the date of the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Union in 1945. Now in its 11th year, Holocaust Memorial Day provides an opportunity for everyone to learn lessons from the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides and apply them to the present day to create a safer, better future.