Four major conferences in November deal with Jewish (and other) built heritage — we wish we could be cloned in order to attend them all!
As is, we will hope to present information on all four, including presentations that are made available for distribution. (The photo above is from the JHE conference on managing Jewish built heritage held in Krakow, April 2013 — all of whose presentations were recorded and posted online.)
All four conferences deal with different specific topics and are sponsored by quite different organizations, but all are related. They demonstrate the wide range of issues inherent in the field of Jewish heritage — from preservation and protection to display and tourism, as well as the wide interest in them.
They are:
November 8-10, Lodz, Poland. Urban Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe
Organized by: Monumentum Iudaicum Lodzense Foundation; Lodz University of Technology Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning; University of Lodz, Jewish Research Center, Department of Art History and the Students Art History Club.
The aim of the conference is to analyze diverse phenomena associated with historical and
contemporary functioning of urban cemeteries. The sessions will cover the following issues:
• knowledge and research methodology;
• artistic forms, architectural solutions and spatial layouts – typology and artists;
• funeral customs;
• issues of epigraphy and palaeography;
• documentation and interpretation of the Jewish heritage;
• preservation, maintenance, reconstruction.
November 9-11, Vicenza, Italy. Biennial conference of the Future for Religious Heritage organization.
The conference ‘Tourists, Travellers and Pilgrims: Encountering Religious Heritage in Today’s Europe’ will examine pilgrimage in both its traditional and modern sense. It will be an outstanding chance to explore the historic and modern meaning of pilgrimage and what role it plays for people and communities, in tourism and the landscape of religious heritage in Europe.
The conference will bring keynote addresses, dedicated sessions and participative discussion forums by practitioners and experts from different areas. FRH is proud to announce the key note speech by Prof. David Freedberg who is best known for his work on psychological responses to art and his studies on iconoclasm and censorship, and Mr Stefano Dominioni, Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes. Annie Sacerdoti will be on a panel on tourism routes discussing the AEPJ’s Jewish heritage routes project. FRH will also hold its Annual General Meeting in which its current activities and future plans will be debated.
November 18-22, Copenhagen. Annual Conference of the Association of European Jewish Museums.
This year’s theme is Staying Relevant — Future Audiences of Jewish Museums in a Changing Europe. It is hosted by the Danish Jewish Museum, which is located by Copenhagen’s waterfront in a 17th century building with an interior designed by Daniel Libeskind. The Museum opened in 2004, and covers the history of the Danish Jews through 400 years.
November 21-23, Braunschweig, Germany. Synagogue and Museum: 3rd International Congress on Jewish Architecture
The congress is organized by the Bet Tfila – Research Unit for Jewish Architecture (Braunschweig/ Jerusalem) and the Lehrstuhl für Kunstgeschichte at the Hochschule für Jüdische Studien, Heidelberg in cooperation with the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, Braunschweig, and the Israel Jacobson Netzwerk für jüdische Kultur und Geschichte e.V.
After 1945, the interest in synagogues as objects of cultural history continued. Besides ritual objects and furnishings, the „empty“ buildings of the annihilated communities became objects of interest. Historic synagogue buildings were regarded as museums, their material substance was and is restored and interpreted in different ways. The virtual and haptic reconstruction of destroyed synagogues generated another group of „immaterial“ exhibits.
The congress will examine the subject in a wide range of perspectives of theoretical and historical reflections. Historic and actual examples of documenting, collecting, and researching synagogues and their furnishing will shed light on the history, the presence, and the future of synagogues in and as museums. Thus, the organisers encourage scholars in the fields of art and architectural history, cultural sciences, Jewish studies, restoration and museology as well as experts in museums, collections, preservation authorities, and education programs to take part in the congress.