Developing the Virtual Belarusian Jewish Museum

“Developing the Virtual Belarusian Jewish Museum: Project Concept and Pilot of the Digital Collection (Work in Progress)”

Special event within the Heritage and Civil Society conference.

A dedicated session by the Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center and partners about the Virtual Belarusian Jewish Museum and the pilot stage of its Digital Collection. The event explores new approaches to heritage work in conditions of fragmentation, loss, and limited institutional infrastructure.

During this session, the team will present:
• The conceptual framework of the Virtual Museum – its first exhibition concept, architecture, digital strategy, and community-driven approach.
• Completed immersive VR cases – full VR reconstructions of the Wolpa Great Synagogue and the newly completed Ashmyany Great Synagogue, available for viewing in VR headsets throughout the event.
• The pilot Digital Collection – insights from the team.

The pilot tests participatory methods involving civil society as “collectors” and “ambassadors” who help identify, gather, and describe materials, linking institutional archives with family memory and lived experience.

Speakers include:
• Maya Katznelson – General Curator, Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center
• Grigoriy Kheifets – Digital Curator, Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center
• Professor Claire Le Foll – Academic Curator, University of Southampton
• Coordinators, collectors and community ambassadors involved in the project’s recent pilot phase.

Partners: Goethe-Institut Lithuania, Eastern Partnership program of the German Federal Foreign Office, University of Southampton

Registration required (open to all, conference attendance not mandatory). The event can be attended in person in Vilnius or online. Please indicate your preferred format when registering: https://forms.gle/hLetin1ZNrjqbLjy9