Jewish Heritage Europe

Calendar

Jan
14
Sun
The “Burning” Exhibit of Papercuts by Monika Krajewska – now in Radom @ Jacek Malczewski Museum, Radom
Jan 14 – Apr 30 all-day
The "Burning" Exhibit of Papercuts by Monika Krajewska - now in Radom @ Jacek Malczewski Museum, Radom

 “Burning,” an exhibition of paper cuts by Monika Krajewska, is now being shown in Radom, following an exhibit at the POLIN museum in Warsaw. We were privileged to host an online exhibition of some of her works in 2020.

The exhibit consists of 31 works in which the artist, using traditional Jewish paper-cutting technique, refers to objects related to the synagogue, painstakingly recreating the symbolism and ornamentation of Jewish art from East-Central Europe—stylised floral decoration, symbolic representations of animals, a repertoire of traditional sacred Jewish symbols (a menorah, Torah and the Tablets of Law, the Temple) and calligraphic quotations from religious texts and prayers.

In order to introduce reflection on loss and destruction, Krajewska subjects her painstaking work to destruction: she tears apart sections of the works after cutting them out and burns the ends of the sheets. She uses tinted paper as a background for the cut-outs, incorporating the motif of fire, ashes and ruins. And she incorporates quotations from religious texts or classics of modern Jewish literature, in which there are references to flames and destruction, as well as to the hope of salvation.

 

 

Jan
19
Fri
Sephardic Bucharest @ Romanian Institute of Culture and Humanistic Research, Venice
Jan 19 – Jan 27 all-day
Sephardic Bucharest @ Romanian Institute of Culture and Humanistic Research, Venice

A photographic exhibit highlighting the Sephardic Jewish presence in Bucharest, curated by Felicia Waldman and Anca Tudorancea.

Photos depict synagogues, Jewish communal buildings, private buildings, and shops, etc,  as well as personalities such as professionals, doctors, merchants, artisans, doctors, cultural figures, etc.

 

Jan
25
Thu
Between Knowledge Of The History Of Rhineland Judaism And The Heritage Of Synagogues: A Responsibility Of Alsace @ Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire (BNU), Strasbourg
Jan 25 @ 18:30 – 20:00
Between Knowledge Of The History Of Rhineland Judaism And The Heritage Of Synagogues: A Responsibility Of Alsace @ Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire (BNU), Strasbourg | Strasbourg | Grand Est | France

Lecture by Catherine Trautmann, president of the Maison du Judaïsme Rhénan association, will discuss how three associations — the Society for the Study of Judaism in Alsace-Lorraine, Les Routes du Judaïsme Rhénan and the Maison du Judaïsme Rhénan — have created a new Rhineland Judaism Center.

They hope  to pool their resources within the framework of joint projects.

This conference is an opportunity to publicly present this dynamic, inspired by the example of the German ShUM cities (Mainz, Worms and Speyer) and Erfurt, whose Jewish heritage from the Middle Ages has been included on the UNESCO world heritage roster.

Under discussion  will be  the responsibility of Alsace, which has the largest concentration of Jewish heritage sites in France, for the protection, enhancement and access to this heritage.

Click here to find a link to register

 

Feb
21
Wed
House of the World to Come: Immortal Jewish Cemeteries @ Parobrod Galeria, Belgrade
Feb 21 – Mar 7 all-day

Photo exhibition by Rudolf Klein, author of the book Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries — which will be presented at the opening.

The opening takes place February 21, at 7 p.m.

There will be speeches by Klein and others.

Mar
1
Fri
Hideouts. The Architecture of Survival @ Jewish Museum Frankfufrt
Mar 1 – Sep 1 all-day
Hideouts. The Architecture of Survival @ Jewish Museum Frankfufrt | Frankfurt am Main | Hessen | Germany

A multimedia exhibition by the artist, architect and historian Natalia Romik dedicated to the creativity of Polish Jews seeking to survive the Shoah in hiding.

In Poland and Ukraine during World War II, approximately 50,000 people survived persecution by the German occupying forces in hiding. The majority of them were Jewish. They found refuge in tree hollows, closets, basements, sewers, empty graves, and other precarious locations. Natalia Romik’s exhibition “Hideouts. The Architecture of Survival” pays tribute to these fragile places of refuge and explores their physicality. The show poses basic questions about the relationship between architecture, private life, and the public sphere: it addresses the protective function of spaces and emphasizes the creativity those in hiding brought to bear in their attempt to survive.

In a research project extending over several years, Natalia Romik and an interdisciplinary team of researchers consulted oral histories to identify several hiding places, which they explored using forensic methods. The multimedia exhibition “Hideouts. The Architecture of Survival” presents the results of this research. It consists of sculptures bearing a direct connection to the sites and includes documentary films, forensic recordings, photos, documents, and objects found in the hiding places.

“Hideouts: The Architecture of Survival” is presented in cooperation with the Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw and the TRAFO Center for Contemporary Art in Szczecin. On the occasion of the show at the Jewish Museum Frankfurt, a catalogue will be published in German and English editions by Hatje Cantz Verlag.

The exhibition was curated by Kuba Szreder and Stanisław Ruksza with the help of Aleksandra Janus (scientific collaboration). For the presentation in Frankfurt, Katja Janitschek, curator of the Judengasse Museum, was responsible for the curatorial project management. We would like to thank the Evonik Foundation for their generous support.

 

Mar
29
Fri
Jews in 20th Century Italy @ National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah
Mar 29 – Oct 6 all-day

The  exhibit showcases Italian Jewish experience in the 20th century, beginning with the destruction of the ghettos at the end of the 19th century, through the Shoah, and up until almost the present day.

It includes contemporary artworks; photographs from public and private archives; historical documents, and family objects. 

Tempio Maggiore, Great Synagogue, Rome,
Tempio Maggiore, Great Synagogue, Rome, built in 1904 after the opening of the Ghetto

 

Apr
2
Tue
Houses of Eternity – Domy wieczności @ Płońsk Memorial House
Apr 2 – Jun 9 all-day
Houses of Eternity - Domy wieczności @ Płońsk Memorial House | Płońsk | Mazowieckie | Poland

An exhibition about Jewish cemeteries, prepared by the Galicia Jewish Museum.

In many places throughout Poland, Jewish cemeteries or what remains of them are the only visible sign of the centuries-long presence of Jewish communities in a given area. The exhibition “Houses of Eternity” is a reflection on what Jewish cemeteries mean to us today and an attempt to find an answer to the question of what we can learn from them. Its aim is to introduce the topic of Jewish cemeteries to the widest possible audience, help understand how important an element of cultural heritage the preserved Jewish cemeteries are and answer a number of questions related to cemeteries in the context of Jewish history and tradition.

The opening is at 1 p.m., April 2

May
2
Thu
Le sinagoghe in eta’ contemporanea: tra memoria e innovazione. @ Online or Biblioteca Nazionale dell’Ebraismo Italiano “Tullia Zevi”
May 2 @ 18:00 – 19:00
Le sinagoghe in eta’ contemporanea: tra memoria e innovazione. @ Online or Biblioteca Nazionale dell’Ebraismo Italiano “Tullia Zevi” | Roma | Lazio | Italy

For Italian speakers — a meeting with architect and historian Andrea Morpurgo who last year curated a major exhibition on synagogues and Jewish cemeteries at the National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah in Ferrara.

You can attend in person or via streaming:

In presenza:
Biblioteca Nazionale dell’Ebraismo Italiano “Tullia Zevi” – Lungotevere Sanzio 5, Roma

In streaming:
Facebook e YouTube della Fondazione per i Beni Culturali Ebraici in Italia
Webtv dell’Unione delle Comunità Ebraiche Italiane

 

May
17
Fri
(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt @ POLIN Museum, Warsaw
May 17 – Dec 16 all-day
(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt @ POLIN Museum, Warsaw | Warszawa | Województwo mazowieckie | Poland

There were more than a thousand shtetls in today’s territories of Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus.  The Second World War and the Holocaust obliterated the world of shtetls completely. Today, in Opatów—as well as in tens of other Polish towns—there are no more Jews left.

The OPOLIN Museum’s  new temporary exhibition titled (post) JEWISH… demonstrates that Polish towns hide two parallel histories. The history of their Polish inhabitants is well known and remembered. The one of their Jewish neighbours who are no more is forgotten or left unsaid. 

Guide in the exhibition will be the late Mayer Kirshenblatt, a painter who emigrated to Canada with his mother and brothers as a teenager, in 1934. Mayer recalls the shtetl of his youth, restoring vivid memories of the people, events, daily life and customs. His paintings—full of color, imagination and humor—show us a world that is no more. Looking at them, we learn about our shared Polish-Jewish history.

The exhibition also features a documentation of artistic interventions carried out in today’s Opatów, aimed at discovering and restoring the vestiges of the pre-war Jewish life.

Click here to buy tickets

 

May
18
Sat
POLIN “(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt” exhibit special guided tour
May 18 @ 12:00 – 14:00
POLIN "(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt" exhibit special guided tour

Special guided tour of the temporary exhibition “(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt” by curators Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett and Natalia Romik.

  • 18 May (Saturday), 12 noon, BUY TICKET →
  • Temporary exhibition “(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Throught the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt”
  • Tickets: regular 30PLN, reduced 25PLN
  • Guided tour in English

As Mayer Kirshenblatt’s daughter, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett will talk about the history of pre-war Jewish towns, about their typical features and the role they played in the Jewish community. While analysing Mayer’s paintings, we will learn about the functions of the selected buildings, about old rituals and Polish-Jewish cohabitation. Natalia Romik, on the other hand, will talk about these towns’ postwar fate. While drawing our attention to the exhibition design and the selected artefacts, she will raise the issue of Jewish property and tell us what happened to it after the Holocaust.

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