Reliquaries, in conjunction with the Howl Festival of East Village Arts, marks the Matzo Files’ second year of participation in the annual Lower East Side alternative culture event. The Howl Festival takes place August 21-28 throughout the Lower East Side.

To coincide with the Howl Festival’s first day of events, the Matzo Files is partnering with the City Reliquary for its new Top Drawer exhibition, Reliquaries. The City Reliquary’s Dave Herman, Nik Sokol and Billl Scanga have curated for the exhibition fascinatingly beautiful urban relics selected from the Streit’s Factory and City Reliquary Archives. The City Reliquary is a non-profit civic organization and museum whose aim is to be a historical, cultural and social hub for the people of New York.

In its July 4th issue, U.S. World and News Report’s article “Lower East Stride” noted Streit’s Matzo Factory and the Matzo Files as the author’s favorite find in her walk through the neighborhood. Residing in Streit’s Matzo factory, the oldest family owned and operated matzo factory in the United States, the flat files and artist boxes are a contemporary fusion of old world and new. Top-drawer exhibitions feature curated mini-exhibitions of work.

250 artists currently participate in the highly accessible gallery, where artwork can be held and touched as well as seen. A visit to the space is a sensory experience of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Matzos bake and mouths water while art satisfies visitors with an intimate experience not often encountered in more traditional gallery settings.