Jewish Heritage Europe

Calendar

Oct
3
Thu
House of Life exhibition @ Willesden Library, London
Oct 3 2019 – Feb 16 2020 all-day
House of Life exhibition @ Willesden Library, London | England | United Kingdom

A never before seen showcase of the heritage of Willesden Jewish Cemetery, London’s preeminent Victorian Jewish Cemetery, established in 1873.

The House of Life Exhibition previews new displays of the cemetery’s rich history, ahead of its opening to the wider public in 2020.

The exhibition introduces visitors to the  lives of selected individuals buried there, describes the Jewish approach to death and mourning, and gives a glimpse of the the cemetery buildings and landscape. 
The displays further invite us all to reflect on the people we have lost and how we like to remember them. 

The exhibition is presented by the United Synagogue in partnership with Brent Museum and Archives.

Researched by volunteers and designed by Philip Simpson Design, the exhibition is part of the House of Life heritage project of the United Synagogue, which is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

 

Jan
23
Thu
Jewish Musicians and Jewish Music-Making in Polish Lands @ Polish Embassy London
Jan 23 @ 09:30 – 17:30
Jewish Musicians and Jewish Music-Making in Polish Lands @ Polish Embassy London | England | United Kingdom

A one-day Conference to Launch POLIN: Studies in Polish-Jewry

Vol. 32: ‘Jewish Musicians and Jewish Music-Making in Polish Lands’

Organized by the Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies, and the Institute of Jewish Studies, UCL.

Co-organized and supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, and the Polish Cultural Institute, London, with the support of Ślipaczek Chartered Financial Planners

The astounding variety of music of all genres and styles produced by musicians of Jewish heritage in Europe since 1750 has been examined almost entirely in the context of German-speaking Europe or in studies of a group of composers who strongly self-identified as Jews.

In five thematic sections, this multi-disciplinary volume presents rich coverage of the main genres produced by musicians of Jewish origin in the Polish lands: Cantorial and Religious Music, Jews in Polish Popular Culture, Jews in the Polish classical music scene, The Holocaust reflected in Jewish music, and Klezmer in Poland today. This volume explores the activities and great creativity of musicians of the ‘Mosaic persuasion’, covering the area of the Polish-Lithunanian Commonwealth and its successor states from 1750 to the present. 

The conference will look at Cantorial Music, Jews and Polish popular culture, and Klezmer in Poland today. And there will be music!

‘POLIN Vol. 32’ is published by the Littman Library of Jewish Civilisation/Liverpool University Press.

Volume Editors: François Guesnet, Benjamin Matis, and Antony Polonsky.

 

Jan
26
Sun
Holocaust and Memory. @ Jewish Museum London
Jan 26 @ 14:45 – 17:00
Holocaust and Memory. @ Jewish Museum London | England | United Kingdom

Dr Sofiya Dyak, Nikita Kadan and Professor Philippe Sands  discuss the evolution of the practices of Holocaust remembrance and its public discourse in Ukraine: How are these tragic events remembered across different communities and why? How to deal with histories of lands subjected to multiple occupations and mass murder across communities? How to write a historic narrative for the country, which is still in a state of war?

This event is part of Holocaust Memorial Day.

Dr Sofiya Dyak is the Director of the Lviv Centre of Urban History, a private institution which initiated a number of important initiatives commemorating Jewish community presence in Lviv in partnership with Lviv’s municipality, including the Space of Synagogues memorial. In 2017, the centre hosted the “Un-named” project, reflecting on mass violence in Ukraine between 1931 and 1945. The project included visual work by Nikita Kadan, Ukraine’s contemporary artist. Similarly, Professor Philippe Sands traced his family history back to Lviv, with the city becoming the focus of much of his literary work and intellectual reflection.

Mar
8
Sun
International Women’s Day Tour of Willesden Jewish Cemetery @ Willesden Jewish cemetery
Mar 8 @ 11:00 – 12:30
International Women's Day Tour of Willesden Jewish Cemetery @ Willesden Jewish cemetery | England | United Kingdom

Join curator Hester Abrams for a tour that brings to life the stories of women who made their mark in science, medicine, government, the High Street and the arts, from Rosalind Franklin to H Samuel.

Nov
27
Sat
Extermination – Great Synagogue Grodno @ online - zoom, and on-site
Nov 27 @ 18:00 – 20:30
Extermination - Great Synagogue Grodno @ online - zoom, and on-site | Vilnius | Vilniaus apskritis | Lithuania

European Humanities University (EHU) and the Center for Belarusian Community and Culture in Vilnius will host a premiere presentation of “Extermination” — an audiovisual installation about the Great Synagogue of Grodno, which was constructed in the 16th century and was rebuilt many times after devastating fires. 

Kseniya Shtalenkova (lecturer in the Academic Department of Humanities and Arts at EHU, Philosophy PhD candidate) is the project curator and Viktoryia Bahdanovich (fourth-year student of the BA program in Visual Design) is the project production designer and executive producer.

 The “Extermination” audiovisual installation is a monologue on the history of the place as well as an individual experience of a person in time and space.

The installation has been created as a part of the project on “Preservation and Actualization of Former Synagogues in Belarus for the Benefit of Local Communities” by Stsiapan Stureika, Professor of Humanities and Arts at EHU. Project research conducted for the work on the installation was conducted with the participation of EHU students.

The presentation will be delivered in Russian with subtitles in English. 

Register by November 26.

Click here to register on Zoom (or for in-person attendance)

The event will be also streamed online via EHU’s Facebook page.

NOTE: you can attend the event physically at the Belarusian House (Vilniaus g. 20) by pre-registration at the same link to register on Zoom

May
23
Mon
5th World Litvak Congress @ various
May 23 – May 26 all-day
5th World Litvak Congress @ various | Lithuania

A gathering of Lithuanian Jews and descendants, which includes an academic conference, a cultural fest, guided tours to Jewish heritage in several towns and cities around the country — Vilnius, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Šeduva, Pakruojis — and more.

Click here to see the full program

Pre-registration is required by filling out the following form:

https://forms.gle/VJa9nMHaHjH4t5Lf6

Sep
1
Thu
Jewish Heritage in the UK festival @ various
Sep 1 – Dec 31 all-day
Jewish Heritage in the UK festival @ various | United Kingdom

A series of events starting September 1 and continuing until the end of the year will be coordinated as the B’nai B’rith Jewish Heritage in the UK Festival — organised under the international umbrella of the European Days of Jewish Culture (EDJC), whose theme this year is “Renewal.”

Click here to download a PDF calendar of events

(Click here for the “flipsnack” online catalogue of events).

 

 

 

May
21
Sun
Licoricia of Winchester: Heritage and Memory of Medieval Anglo Jewry @ The Arc, Winchester
May 21 @ 13:30 – 14:30
Licoricia of Winchester: Heritage and Memory of Medieval Anglo Jewry @ The Arc, Winchester | England | United Kingdom

A round-table discussion, plus optional walking tours through the “invisible” medieval Jewish history of Winchester. The Roundtable is free, the walking tours — at 10:30-11:30am or 11:30-12:30pm, cost £5. 

The event event focuses on Licoricia of Winchester and the heritage and memory of medieval Anglo-Jewry.

The bronze statue of the remarkable Anglo-Jewish woman, Licoricia, was unveiled in Winchester in 2021. This is the most prominent heritage work carried out relating to medieval Anglo- Jewry. 

The event, through a walking tour (£5) and free round table discussion, will consider the achievements of the Licoricia project, and the challenges of creating heritage in the absence of the built heritage that directly reflects the presence of medieval Winchester Jewry. It will also consider the public and educational issues raised when dealing with questions such as the Jewish role in medieval finance and hostile representations of Jews from the period based on religious bigotry. Addressing the key aims of the Licoricia project, participants will explore the potential of such commemoration to consider the roots of prejudice and discrimination, using this to promote tolerance, diversity, and female empowerment.

Please note that if you wish to attend both the walking tour and the roundtable event, you will need to register for each event separately.

Click here for booking and other details

Click here to read an April 2017  JHE Have Your Say essay about invisible medieval Jewish heritage by one of the Roundtable speakers, Dr. Toni Griffiths

 

Beginnings: The Story of the Willesden Jewish Cemetery @ Willesdan Jewish Cemetery
May 21 @ 14:00 – 15:30
Beginnings: The Story of the Willesden Jewish Cemetery @ Willesdan Jewish Cemetery | England | United Kingdom

Willesden Jewish Cemetery: 150 years of Heritage 1873 – 2023 Guided Walk

As part of the year long celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Willesden Jewish Cemetery, this guided walk will tell the story of the establishment of the cemetery, highlighting the early years of the United Synagogue, the people who made it happen and their role in the community.

Feb
18
Sun
Open Day Merthyr Tydfil @ Theatre Soar, Merthyr Tydfil
Feb 18 @ 10:00 – 15:30
Open Day Merthyr Tydfil @ Theatre Soar, Merthyr Tydfil | Wales | United Kingdom

Open Day to share plans for Welsh Jewish Heritage Centre in Merthyr Tydfil.

The public is invited to explore Merthyr Tydfil’s historic synagogue and help shape plans to create a Welsh Jewish Heritage Centre.

There will be tours of the synagogue throughout the day, along with music from a Welsh klezmer band and a talk on the history of Merthyr’s once-thriving
Jewish community.

The project team will be on hand to find out what local people think of the plans for the future of the building, and record their memories of its past life.

Merthyr Tydfil Synagogue was built in the 1870s and is the oldest purpose-built synagogue surviving in Wales. After the congregation left in 1983, its condition deteriorated. The Foundation for Jewish Heritage purchased it in 2019 and the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, visited in 2021. The following year, the Foundation secured funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Welsh government and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council to develop the plans.

 

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