Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries PhD student Kremena Dimitrova has been working on the public history project 50 Jewish Objects as part of a commission by Centre for Jewish Studies and John Rylands Library.

Kremena, who's pursuing a PhD in Visualising History, was approached by Professor Alex Samely and Dr Stefania Silvestri at the end of 2019 to produce artwork, which can be viewed online. The commission involved researching and investigating the Objects while employing a graphic narrative format. She focused on a 13th Century compendium of Jewish law – a manuscript of Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil's Sefer Mitzvot Katan (Semak) – and produced 7 comic strip pillars for the University of Manchester's permanent collections in the John Rylands Library.

Also part of the commission are outreach activities in Manchester's Jewish communities – comprising graphic storytelling demonstrations and workshops to promote awareness of Jewish artefacts, history and studies – and merchandise design for the John Rylands Library shop. Kremena's captured all her research, design decisions and approaches on her blog.

Kremena will host a series of illustration workshops for VJ-Day 75 on 22–27 June 2020, exploring the end of World War II and teaching how to illustrate histories. Throughout the week, she'll produce and exhibit brand-new illustrations on the National Memorial Arboretum website. Spaces are limited, so pre-register to secure a place.