The study, preservation and valorisation of the history and culture of the Jews of Belarus, largely destroyed in the Holocaust and under Soviet rule, remains largely invisible and neglected. How can research, community initiatives and artistic creation regarding this rich but still under-studied culture be stimulated when the creation of a physical museum, an academic institute or a cultural centre is unfeasible?
This is the challenge that the Open Lab for a Belarusian Jewish museum is aiming to tackle.
In this online presentation, the team of the Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center (BJCH) and Claire Le Foll from the University of Southampton will discuss the prototype of the Open Lab for a Belarusian Jewish museum.
They will show the first completed object for the digital exhibition – a virtual reconstruction of the destroyed wooden synagogue of Wolpa and share preliminary ideas on the next stage of the Open Lab that will involve using virtual reality, AI, and other technologies for researching and educating about Belarusian Jewish history.
Click here to see our post about the virtual reconstruction of the Wolpa synagogue
Speakers
Professor Claire Le Foll | University of Southampton
Claire Le Foll is Professor of East European Jewish History and Culture. She specialises in the history and culture of Jews in Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. She is iterested in the inter-ethnic relations in the Western borderlands of the tsarist and Soviet empires, and more specifically in Belarus. In her first book she explored the development of the Vitebsk Art School in the context of the Russian avant-garde of the quest for a Jewish art. In her second book, she looked at the he relation of Jews of the Belorussian provinces to the administrative, political and cultural idea of Belorussia. She has published many articles on the political and cultural interactions of Jews and Belarusians in literature, art, cinema and scholarship in pre-revolutionary and Soviet Belarus.
Maya Katznelson, Founder and Curator of Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center
Cultural producer and curator with over a decade of experience in developing multidisciplinary international projects. She holds an MA in Museum Cultures with Curating from Birkbeck, University of London, and a degree in Journalism, with expertise in audiovisual media and PR. Currently leads the Virtual Jewish Museum of Belarus project. Since 2011, she has organized 13 major international exhibitions, including collaborations with national museums. Initiated and supervised cultural, educational, and creative projects, such as UNOVIS100, Belarusian-Jewish Festival, and Laboratory of Jewish heritage in Belarus with the Goethe-Institute.
Grigoriy Kheifets, Project Curator
Product manager and digital curator specializing in cultural and educational projects across XR, web, and mobile platforms. He leads the digital product development for the Virtual Jewish Museum of Belarus initiative, crafting immersive experiences that blend technology, 3D modeling, restoration, historical research, and storytelling. Active in informal Jewish education since 2013 and cultural project curation since 2018, Grigoriy has 9 years of expertise in product and brand community building, influence marketing, and social media, bridging creativity with technical execution to deliver engaging digital solutions.
Event information
This event will be held online via Zoom. More info can be accessed here.
If you have any questions about this event please contact parkes@soton.ac.uk
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