2:00 P.M.EDT
20:00 CEST
20:00 CEST
october
26
1. Avi Biran, Chanukka-Lamp, Israel, 2008. 2. Rachel Kanter, “Between Me and God“, Tallit for Women, USA, Monclair, New Jersey, 2010
This panel, consisting of two museum professionals and a contemporary artist will discuss the role and expectations of Jewish museums in the European context today. The panel will challenge the role of the Jewish museum as a place dedicated solely to the preservation of the memories of Jewish life and culture, especially in the context of European countries whose pre-WW2 communities had been largely devastated and never fully recovered. What are the experiences of the Jewish museum professionals in integrating complex Jewish narratives into the national histories of countries where such museums reside?
In addition to working with the legacies of the two plus millennia of Jewish contribution to Europe, in recent decades, Jewish Museums have also become important sites for presenting and producing contemporary art related to Jewish history and identity. What are the challenges in bringing contemporary art to the Jewish museum today? In what forms contemporary artists can engage with the Jewish museum, beyond just projects that react to, research and activate museum collections? Are contemporary Jewish artists placed in the context of Jewish museums being instrumentalized as “reanimators or resuscitators” or “living proof” of Jewish art and culture’s existence?
In what way can the Jewish museum become an organic site for the production of new Jewish art, knowledge, and culture? What are the strategies for finding a balance between the preservation of memory and forging new future(s)?
Chief Curator of the Core Exhibition at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett will speak about the museum and its participation in shaping public history narratives. While it is not an art museum, contemporary art projects are an important part of both the Core Exhibition and the temporary exhibitions. Contemporary artists are invited to create new works for exhibitions on such topics as Jewish culinary culture. Existing works are incorporated into exhibitions on such topics as how blood unites and divides us. An entire exhibition is dedicated to the work of one artist, for example, Frank Stella and Wilhelm Sasnal. This talk explores the role of contemporary art at POLIN Museum.
Jewish museums can wear many hats, contemporary art is one of them. For example by including art works dealing with Jewish subjects in their exhibitions or by commissioning artists to produce particular projects. What if Jewish museums take it a step further? We don't know if anything such as Jewish art exists. But if it does, it might go beyond questions of identity (Jewish artist) or content (art work dealing with Jewish subjects). Artist Eduard Freudmann would like to suggest that community and mutual exchange could play a role in that regard and reflect on how Jewish museums could become laboratories for research on the Jewishness of art.
Director of Jewish Museum Frankfurt Mirjam Wenzel will address the mechanisms of the museum collecting and exhibiting as well as encouraging contemporary art productions that are reflecting on Jewish history and culture. In the framework of its preoccupation with diverse contemporary Jewish cultures the museum enables commission of artworks to particular topics as well as artist residencies and aims at empowering younger Jewish artists to take a public stand. Mirjam Wenzel will present contemporary artworks that are either commissioned or presented by the Jewish Museum Frankfurt and expand on the changing exhibition “Revenge: History and Fantasy”, in particular.
This event is part of the discussion series "Yiddishland Pavilion at The James Gallery: Transnationality, Memory and Museology" organized in a collaboration between Yiddishland Pavilion and James Gallery. The discussions that touch upon the topics of (trans)national representation at the Venice biennale, integration of contemporary art into Jewish museums and artistic female voices that find alternative ways to be heard are held in a hybrid format: online and at James Gallery in October - November 2022.
James Gallery brings artists and scholars into public dialogue on topics of mutual concern through exhibitions as a form of advanced research. As a window into the research work of The Graduate Center and a hub of international discussion, The James Gallery is central to The Graduate Center’s and the City University of New York’s contribution to the cultural life of New York City. The gallery works with scholars, students, artists and the public to explore working methods that may lie outside usual disciplinary boundaries.
James Gallery website
The James Gallery address
365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016
other events of the series:
October 12, 2022
Challenging the National Division: Transnational, Alternative, and “Pavilions-in-pavilions” at the Venice Biennale
November 9, 2022
Herstories, Uncomforbale Narratives, and Power Asymmetries
In addition to working with the legacies of the two plus millennia of Jewish contribution to Europe, in recent decades, Jewish Museums have also become important sites for presenting and producing contemporary art related to Jewish history and identity. What are the challenges in bringing contemporary art to the Jewish museum today? In what forms contemporary artists can engage with the Jewish museum, beyond just projects that react to, research and activate museum collections? Are contemporary Jewish artists placed in the context of Jewish museums being instrumentalized as “reanimators or resuscitators” or “living proof” of Jewish art and culture’s existence?
In what way can the Jewish museum become an organic site for the production of new Jewish art, knowledge, and culture? What are the strategies for finding a balance between the preservation of memory and forging new future(s)?
Chief Curator of the Core Exhibition at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett will speak about the museum and its participation in shaping public history narratives. While it is not an art museum, contemporary art projects are an important part of both the Core Exhibition and the temporary exhibitions. Contemporary artists are invited to create new works for exhibitions on such topics as Jewish culinary culture. Existing works are incorporated into exhibitions on such topics as how blood unites and divides us. An entire exhibition is dedicated to the work of one artist, for example, Frank Stella and Wilhelm Sasnal. This talk explores the role of contemporary art at POLIN Museum.
Jewish museums can wear many hats, contemporary art is one of them. For example by including art works dealing with Jewish subjects in their exhibitions or by commissioning artists to produce particular projects. What if Jewish museums take it a step further? We don't know if anything such as Jewish art exists. But if it does, it might go beyond questions of identity (Jewish artist) or content (art work dealing with Jewish subjects). Artist Eduard Freudmann would like to suggest that community and mutual exchange could play a role in that regard and reflect on how Jewish museums could become laboratories for research on the Jewishness of art.
Director of Jewish Museum Frankfurt Mirjam Wenzel will address the mechanisms of the museum collecting and exhibiting as well as encouraging contemporary art productions that are reflecting on Jewish history and culture. In the framework of its preoccupation with diverse contemporary Jewish cultures the museum enables commission of artworks to particular topics as well as artist residencies and aims at empowering younger Jewish artists to take a public stand. Mirjam Wenzel will present contemporary artworks that are either commissioned or presented by the Jewish Museum Frankfurt and expand on the changing exhibition “Revenge: History and Fantasy”, in particular.
This event is part of the discussion series "Yiddishland Pavilion at The James Gallery: Transnationality, Memory and Museology" organized in a collaboration between Yiddishland Pavilion and James Gallery. The discussions that touch upon the topics of (trans)national representation at the Venice biennale, integration of contemporary art into Jewish museums and artistic female voices that find alternative ways to be heard are held in a hybrid format: online and at James Gallery in October - November 2022.
James Gallery brings artists and scholars into public dialogue on topics of mutual concern through exhibitions as a form of advanced research. As a window into the research work of The Graduate Center and a hub of international discussion, The James Gallery is central to The Graduate Center’s and the City University of New York’s contribution to the cultural life of New York City. The gallery works with scholars, students, artists and the public to explore working methods that may lie outside usual disciplinary boundaries.
James Gallery website
The James Gallery address
365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016
other events of the series:
October 12, 2022
Challenging the National Division: Transnational, Alternative, and “Pavilions-in-pavilions” at the Venice Biennale
November 9, 2022
Herstories, Uncomforbale Narratives, and Power Asymmetries
Online-offline
discussion
discussion
THE JAMES GALLERY & ZOOM
JEWISH MUSEUMS AND CONTEMPORARY ART: PRESERVATION OF MEMORY OR FORGING FUTURITY?
Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett
Eduard Freudmann
Mirjam Wenzel
Eduard Freudmann
Mirjam Wenzel
