Lejb Pilanski
Lejb Pilanski passed away on July 3, 2020 at the age of 100.
The son of a Jewish tailor and handy-man, Lejb was born in Poland on November 30, 1919. Lejb was conscripted in the Russian Army to fight the Germans during World War II. While he was in the army, his entire family perished. Lejb met his future wife Ester on a train. They snuck into France and lived in Paris where they had their daughter Ginette. In 1950 they entered Canada as Displaced Person Refugees, settling in downtown Toronto.
After doing piece-work in a sweatshop, Lejb got a job as a tailor for Simpsons and saved enough to buy a modest home. He built a sewing room and workshop as a place to invent and innovate, turning discarded and secondhand objects into unique creations. From secret cupboards and hiding places with hidden entrances to clothing for his family, Lejb built custom designs whenever an idea struck. He learned about motors, electrical work and plumbing. Sewing and stitching is at the core of what he makes. His creations, and entire home, were evidence of his continued efforts to tinker and hack everything.
Sean Wainsteim
The proud grandson of Lejb Pilanski, Sean Wainsteim is an award winning filmmaker, writer and artist living in Toronto, Canada. A graduate of OCAD, Sean splits his time between commercial, documentary and narrative projects that often use magic-realism to explore the spaces between history and memory. Sean’s work can be found at https://seanwainsteim.com/.
Sean began assembling ZEI GEZUNT // KEEP WELL shortly after his grandmother Ester, Lejb’s wife, passed away on January 12, 2017. While growing up, the objects featured in the show never seemed out-of-the-ordinary. While he realizes they are entirely unique, they also speak to ingenuity common in many immigrants. Sean tried to approach creation and curation of the show in the same exploratory spirit of discovery that he finds in his grandfather’s objects.