Three alphabetical lists preview current, upcoming and ongoing exhibitions being presented by our member institutions across North America. Clink the links for pictures and additional information.
This exhibition surveys the explosion of new Jewish rituals, art, and objects that has occurred since the mid-1990s. This period is defined by the urge to discover beauty and meaning in first premises--the roots and ruptures--when ritual could be radical. Outstanding works of industrial design, metalwork, ceramics, video, drawing, comics, sculpture, installation, and textiles from Europe, Israel, and North America reveal the diversity within Judaism.
Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World) is the first major exhibition dedicated to the illustrator, author, and designer, renowned for rendering the ephemeral and profound with great detail and wit. A humorist and a miniaturist, Kalman's art appears everywhere in the foreground of today's visual culture-with many covers for The New Yorker, books, and creative collaborations to her credit.
The installation-spanning thirty years of original paintings, drawings, notebooks, and sketchbooks- is being composed by Kalman as a creative context for her work. The exhibition expresses Kalman's habits as a collector, walker, traveler, reader and maker of lists. Furnished with chairs, ladders, and "many tables of many things," this exhibition invites viewers to stroll through the world of Maira Kalman and to observe her way of structuring the world her work illuminates.
The inaugural exhibition in the newly expanded Derfner Judaica Museum uses approximately 250 objects to explore the intersections of Jewish history and memory as they inform individual and communal identities. Among the featured objects: a silver filigree kiddush cup, ca. 1911; an early copper alloy Hanukkah lamp; from the famed Bezalel School; a set of 18th century Torah implements from Meerholz, Germany; and a velvet fish-scale embroidered matzah cover from turn-of-the-century Jerusalem.
Michael Cohen, a child of Holocaust survivors, was born in 1943 at Kibbutz Givat Brenner in Israel. An award-winning self-taught photographer, he embarked on a journey to explore the way of life of the Orthodox Israeli communities in Jerusalem, Bane Brake, Tzfat, and Netanya. This exhibition captures the daily life of the Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem. The images, printed on canvas, depict Simchat Torah and Lag B'Omer celebrations, weddings, prayer and play: young Orthodox boys balance on a seesaw, sit on the beach and indulge in a cigarette during Purim festivities.
Never Let It Rest! is a documentary art project by contemporary German artist Hans Molzberger. This exhibition relates to the small town of Salzwedel in the Saxony-Anhalt region of Germany during the time of Nazi control and is based on an exhibit previously shown at the Jenny Marx Museum in Salzwedel. A concentration camp for women was erected in Salzwedel in 1944 as a satellite to Neuengamme. Up to 1,200 women, most of them Jews from Hungary, were imprisoned there. The exhibit includes oral testimonies from some of the women who were in the camp, historical documentation of period events, and an art installation addressing issues of persecution, war propaganda and the camps.
"Never Let It Rest!" is a documentary art project by contemporary German artist Hans Molzberger relating to the small town of Salzwedel in the Saxony-Anhalt region of Germany during the time of Nazi control. Up to 1,550 women, most of them Jews from Hungary, were imprisoned there at a concentration camp erected there in 1944. The exhibition includes historical documentation of period events, an art installation that addresses persecution and war propaganda, and oral testimonies from some of the women who were in the camp.
Since the 1930s, the children of the BC Jewish community have attended Jewish summer camps in BC and elsewhere. They have learned about Jewish history and ethics, the history and politics of Israel, and developed a strong sense of community. When asked about their experiences at camp, alumni often say that their dearest and longest lasting friendships began at the age of seven or eight, in their first days at camp. The exhibit explores such lasting impressions and features an array of photographs, artifacts and interactive displays. Jewish Camps featured in the exhibit include Habonim Dror Camp Miriam, Camp Hatikvah, and Camp Solomon Schechter.
In tribute to all veterans, the Museum will mount an exhibit on the story of Floridian Jews who have served in the military. Floridian Jews have fought for every conflict from the Seminole Wars when the city of Ft. Myers was named for Col. Abraham C. Myers through the Civil War when Morris Dzialynski of Jacksonville and many others served, to the World Wars, Korean, Viet Nam, Gulf and battles of the 21st Century.
This photodocumentary exhibit on the contemporary Cuban Jewish community in South Florida includes 30 large-scale photographs and narratives reflecting Cuban Jews from all walks of life. The images are a look into the lives of a distinct group of people performing daily tasks, professions and rituals, providing an intimate view of a vibrant community that began more than four decades ago.
David Goldblatt, one of South Africa's most highly regarded photographers, was witness to apartheid's infiltration into every aspect of South African life. His photos do not look at the large events or the public face of violence; rather they focus on the world of ordinary people and the minutiae of everyday life, illuminating the depth of injustice and the character of the people who impose it and who struggle against it.
South African artist William Kentridge transforms the traditional medium of drawing by filming drawn, erased and redrawn images thereby creating a visual narrative. Presented as film, the hand of the draftsman is seen in the charcoal lines, smudges, and silhouettes--leaving traces of time across the moving images. The four films in this exhibition, part of the Drawings for Projection series, depict the fictional Jewish characters Soho Eckstein and Felix Teitelbaum, who begin as alteregos of each other. Protagonist and antagonist exchange attributes as the sequence progresses. The characters metaphorically play out the social, political, and moral legacy of apartheid as they go about their lives.
Cabinets of Curiosities was the title given to the encyclopedic collections of objects gathered by monarchs, aristocrats, and merchants in Renaissance Europe on their travels abroad (14th-16th century). Adventurers would bring back mysterious treasures that would captivate imaginations and ignite curiosities. Each object of wonder on display at the Morris and Sally Justein Museum tells a personal story from a Resident or Friend of Baycrest. The objects represent collective memories from a past life - cast in a new light, in a new home. The exhibit features both traditional and contemporary ceremonial objects, grouped thematically, spanning the international travels and native homes of the Baycrest community.
Since the 1920s, the game of mah jongg has ignited the popular imagination with its beautiful tiles, mythical origins, and communal spirit. At this exhibition you can learn the history and meaning of the beloved game that became a Jewish-American tradition. Visitors encounter an ambient soundscape, created by sound designer Timothy Nohe, echoing the clicking of the tiles, the din of the gossip, spoken memories, and exclamations of "Crack!" "Bam!" and "Dot!" A game table encourages players and non-players alike to take part in a game of mah jongg and a continuing tradition.
This exhibit from the OntarioJewish Archives, located at The market Gallery in Toronto, explores the history and evolution of Gilbert Studios, including photographs by by Nathan (born Gittelmacher), the father, and Albert, his equally talented son. Al in particular has won great acclaim and awards around the world as a master portrait photographer, with innovative techniques and success securing world famous subjects - including the last Pope, Frank Sinatra, Martin Luther King III, several Canadian prime ministers, the Queen Mum and all of the Israeli prime ministers that set him apart from most of his peers. Please visit the Archives website for further details.
By piecing together fragments of information collected from pre-World War II documents, notes on photographs and oral histories, Mörsel Nathan creates hauntingly beautiful and provocative works on paper reflecting on family members, most of whom she has known only through images and stories. The exhibition includes a series of multi-colored monotypes and screen prints based on a photograph of her aunt Greta; a wedding series of her Uncle Josef's wedding, complemented by a video chronicling the original images from the wedding; and her version of a pre-war "family album."
Four Seasons is the name of a bungalow cottage in New York's Catskill Mountains, a summer retreat for Holocaust survivors. These Jews came out of the unimaginable as teenagers, and in 1979, nearly 100 survivors purchased 44 acres to create a family unit to affirm and enjoy life, swap stories and relax at last. Photographer, writer and filmmaker Rick Nahmias uses photographs, text panels, music, survivor testimonials and oral histories to portray the final summer in 2008.
This exhibition focuses on the activities and legacy of Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-American Jewish lawyer who coined the term genocide, working relentlessly and inventively to protect the rights and survival of specific groups targeted for destruction. Organized jointly with the American Jewish Historical Society and the Center for Jewish History, this exhibition, which presents a fascinating array of original correspondence and documents, serves as a stirring and important reminder of an individual's ability to better humanity and the future.
An original exhibition featuring the work of Baltimore author and illustrator Nancy Patz. The exhibition includes three series of Patz's drawings, paintings, prints and collages that bring to life the artist's personal memories and the imagined lives of people she has never known.
To honor the Holocaust survivors who have volunteered their time over the past thirty years to share their painful WWII experiences at the Museum of Tolerance, the MOT engaged Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Marissa Roth to photograph each of these ambassadors of memory, hope and tolerance.
The new temporary exhibition at the National Museum of American Jewish History offers visitors the opportunity to learn how a museum creates a major exhibition and at the same time have input into developing the show prior to oening. The NMAJH's exhibition design team is now in the process of creating the 22,000-square-foot exhibition for the new Museum now under construction and scheduled to open in 2010.
Inspired by the ancient flood story, which has parallels in hundreds of cultures around the world, this multi-sensory indoor and outdoor attraction invites visitors to board a gigantic wooden ark and to play, climb, build, discover, problem-solve and collaborate alongside handcrafted, one-of-a-kind animals. An innovative, delight-filled destination for children and families of all backgrounds.
What Does It Say to You? presents more than 60 objects from Spertus Museum's collection along with videos of reactions by various members of our audience. Premised on the assumption that the meaning of an object is enhanced by both curatorial interpretation and the associations and knowledge viewers bring to it, the exhibition encourages visitors to share their impressions of the works on view. What Does It Say to You and the Open Depot Collection Display are open every second Thursday evening of the month and on alternate Sundays.
The exhibit explores the
continuing impact of the most widely distributed antisemitic
publication of modern times. Despite countless exposures as a fraud, the myth of a Jewish world conspiracy has
retained power for Nazis and others who seek to spread
hatred of Jews. Technology has now made the Protocols
available via the Internet; it continues to be
circulated by those promoting violence, and even genocide.
This exhibition reveals how the Nazi Party used modern techniques, new technologies and carefully crafted messages to sway millions with its vision for a new Germany and to drive the world into a war that cost some 55 million lives, including six million Jews. It includes rare posters, photographs, artifacts, and film documenting the pivotal role of propaganda in the Nazi effort.
Australian artist Andrew Rogers, creator of one of the world's largest contemporary land art projects, transforms the Museum's garden through sculptural forms suggesting a river bed, a tree of life and rays of light in this specially designed multipart installation. Featuring a large marble relief and twenty carved stones, the installation, conceived in response to the story of our origins in the Book of Genesis, invites contemplation and dialogue on the interaction between ancient life and contemporary society.
