Kosher Giraffe Trilogy: A talk by Hugo Max

‘There’s an old Jewish joke that giraffe meat would be kosher, if only we knew where to cut the neck…’

In his latest publication Austrian-British multidisciplinary artist Hugo Max explores the internment of his great-grandfather as an ‘enemy alien’ on the Isle of Man during the Second World War.

This book showcases a triptych of exploratory narrative films and accompanying projects that include documentaries, paintings, writings, musical performances and collaborations that were created in the process of researching his family history.

Inspired by the creative spirit of the refugee community who were held in requisitioned hotels on the island, these projects consider the intersection of fact and fiction in family memory and celebrate creativity as a source of cross-cultural communication and hope.

To mark the publication of his new book Kosher Giraffe Trilogy, Max will share the journey of his research as the fourth-generation descendant of an internee and will discuss the featured films and paintings.

Hugo Max (b. 2002) is a British-Austrian filmmaker, painter and musician. He graduated from The Ruskin School of Art / Magdalen College, Oxford in 2023 with a degree in Fine Art and studied film at the Friedl Kubelka School for Independent Film, Vienna.

His filmography as a writer-director includes Dissonance, a short film observing a string quartet in rehearsal; he also performs live improvised scores to silent films on solo viola at venues across the UK. He has lectured on improvisation and multidisciplinary practice at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Hugo is the author of three books: Kosher Giraffe Trilogy (2024), The Dissonance Book (2023) and The Stanley Series(2020).

Image: film still

To book, click here.