Annual Report 2013

Association of European Jewish Museums

Annual Report 2013

Table of Content

Introduction 2

Activities 4

Committees 14

Cooperation 15

New Members 16

Communication 17

Financial Support 18

Financial Report 19

Board & Staff 20

Colophon 21

Introduction

Founded in 1989 and based in Amsterdam the Association of European Jewish Museums (AEJM) today represents more than fifty Jewish museums from all over Europe – from Trondheim to Athens, from Toledo to Moscow, from London to Istanbul, from Rome to Vilnius.

This year was marked by the opening of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, a major new venue at the centre of what once was the greatest Jewish community in European history. In 2014 the museum will open its core exhibition. This museum will not only be a place of remembrance and memory, but it is also meant as a presence of Jewish life in Europe, and a future that we cannot foresee. It is part of the growing interest and political prominence of “Jewish questions” in Europe – which is torn between the reality of migration and intercultural exchange, and a growing sense of particularism and xenophobia, a crisis that plays minorities against each other.

The Association is ever more called to encourage its members to support each other in various fields. And to reflect our respective challenges in an overcrowded landscape of activities that covers everything from the preservation and research of Jewish heritage in Europe to educational programmes in societies formed by migration, growing resentments and competing diasporas. The ongoing support of the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) in London is helping us to further develop the AEJM to new horizons.

The AEJM has developed its Educational Training Programme (ETP) into a dynamic seminar that allows for more exchange and discussion about professional experiences and challenges that museum educators are confronted with while working with an ever more diverse audience. In 2013 we received funding from The David Berg Foundation (NY) to continue the programme in 2014. This encouraging support of our activities also shows that our programmes are being recognised internationally as strong models of practice.

In 2013 many efforts were undertaken to further develop the Curatorial Education Programme (CEP) as a tool for the professional development of curatorial skills for staff of our member institutions. From 2014 onwards an initiative by the Jewish Museum Berlin and funds from the German Federal Foreign Office will make it possible to offer an advanced programme twice a year, curated by Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek and hosted by various museums. These developments will allow curatorial staff to either participate once or several times in a series of training programmes following a rich and diverse curriculum. Thanks at this point go to Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek and Cilly Kugelmann who have helped to develop the CEP further.

Our Advisory Visit Grant Programme (AVGP) is increasingly being used by our members as a source of consultation and support confronting various challenges in the fields of collections

2 management, permanent exhibitions and education, fostering exchange and making use of the rich reservoir of expertise amongst our members. Below you will find a summary of the various initiatives AEJM developed during the past year: it is now able now to give back to its members.

That we are able to achieve this is the result of our energetic and amicable members who have participated in and hosted conferences, seminars, meetings and all kinds of other shared projects over the past years. Their force helps to preserve and further strengthen the independent and professional position of our members towards evolving challenges in Europe, and encourages us to develop the AEJM even further.

At this point let me express my thanks to all members of the AEJM, but in particular to the new Board that engages in this enterprise – Erika Perahia-Zemour (Thessaloniki), Łucja Koch (Warsaw), Joanne Rosenthal (London) and Bernhard Purin (Munich), as well as to the former members of the Board Hetty Berg (Amsterdam), Daniela Eisenstein (Fürth), and Magda Veselska (Prague).

My thanks are last but not least going to Eva Koppen, our Project Manager and Administrator, who devotes all her creativity, experience and energy to the AEJM’s further development, programmes, events and daily business, and to Inge Brouwer who in 2013 assisted in preparing the CEP 2014 in Amsterdam.

Hanno Loewy President of the Association of European Jewish Museums

Activities

Curatorial Education Programme – Munich

The fourth edition of the Curatorial Education Programme (CEP) took place from 10 until 13 March 2013, at the Jewish Museum Munich (Germany). The programme was organised in close cooperation with Bernhard Purin (Jewish Museum Munich), Dr Felicitas Heimann- Jelinek, Dr Benigna Schönhagen (Jewish Culture Museum Augsburg-Suabia) and Otto Lohr (Bavarian Museum Service, dept. Jewish museums).

Fourteen curators participated in an intensive four-day programme with workshops, lectures and discussions on curatorial work in Jewish museums. Participants had to prepare themselves by reading general referential texts, making written assignments and presentations.

CEP workshop at the Jewish Museum Munich © Viviane d’Angelo, textbau.com

The programme started with an introductory workshop on how to include Judaica in temporary exhibitions by Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek, curator of the exhibition A Time For Everything. Rituals Against Forgetting. Otto Lohr presented an overview of different approaches towards the preservation and reuse of Jewish built heritage in Bavaria. In his

4 workshop the participants were invited to develop proposals for the case study of the former synagogue in Obernbreit.

In a region with a strong tradition in producing silverware, the workshops at the Jewish Museum Augsburg-Suabia by Benigna Schönhagen and at a private collection by Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek focused at the identification and interpretation of silver Judaica objects. In Augsburg the group visited the silver department of the Maximilianmuseum for a cross- referential workshop on the rich history of Augsburg silverware production. With his workshop on fakes and forgeries, Bernhard Purin gave insight into another important aspect of the identification of Judaica.

CEP Participants working with the silver collection of the Jewish Museum Augsburg-Suabia © Benigna Schönhagen

“So what did I take home? Aside from connecting with wonderful people from all over Europe I got a deeper understanding into the various dimensions of Judaica. I learned what to look for, what reference books to use, and most importantly, whom to contact, if I’m confronted with a questions in the field of Judaica”, says Michal Grünwald, curator at the Jewish Museum Frankfurt.

Educator’s Training Programme – Warsaw

The second edition of the Educator’s Training Programme (ETP) took place from 13 to 16 October 2013 in Warsaw. The programme was organized in close cooperation with Łucja Koch and the staff of the hosting venue Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and with partners the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute, the Oświęncim Jewish Center, the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center, and the Muzeum Sztuki.

The Warsaw edition offered hands-on training through practical workshops offered by the host and the different partner institutions, possibilities to present specific case studies on education practice and challenges, and excursions to familiarize participants with the location of the ETP 2013. The programme also intended to give insight into the specific context of education of Jewish history and culture in museums in Poland.

ETP participants at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw © Museum of the History of Polish Jews

A group of sixteen museum educators from all over Europe participated in an extensive four days programme with workshops, lectures and discussions on different aspects of education in Jewish museums. Participants had to prepare themselves by reading general referential texts, making written assignments and presentations.

For the first two days the participants worked in and around the new Museum of the History of Polish Jews. In Łódź Director Joanna Podolska welcomed the group at the Dialogue Center and also guided the group at the historical Jewish cemetery and the Radegast Station Memorial site. The workshop at the Muzeum Sztuki, a museum for modern and contemporary art, showed new and creative approaches towards museum education in relation to art and Jewish history in Poland. On the last day the group visited the Jewish Historical Institute and its museum in Warsaw and worked with educational materials of the Oshpitzin project from the Oświęcim Jewish Center.

Excursion to the Jewish cemetery in Łódź with Joanna Podolska of the Dialogue Center © Eva Koppen

“The conference packed in a fantastic variety of participatory, enquiry-led and thought- provoking sessions. […] The Educator's Training Programme was an incredibly valuable opportunity to step outside our own team, network with European colleagues and share valuable insights to similar challenges. For me, participating in the conference has been a fantastic experience professionally and personally for which I am very grateful”, says Tali Krikler from the Jewish Museum London, who participated in the programme.

Annual Conference – Munich and Hohenems

The AEJM Annual Conference 2013 took place from 16 to 19 November at the Jewish Museum Munich (Germany) and the Jewish Museum Hohenems (Austria). For five days, 80 participants – coming from Dublin to Jerusalem, from Oslo to Rome, and from Riga to Toledo – discussed the future of Jewish museums in Europe, planned joint activities and visited sites of interest.

The Focus of the programme – under the title Where We Are. Site, Space and Context – were key note lectures, workshops, discussion panels and museum’s presentations on questions of the relationship between museums and their respective urban and historical space, with political interests in society, and with the expectations of their respective audiences.

Conference participants in front of the Jewish Museum Hohenems © Jewish Museum Hohenems

Dr Jörg Skriebeleit, director of the KZ-Memorial at Flossenbürg in Bayern, opened the conference – taking place 70 years after ‘Kristallnacht’ – with his remarks about the contradictory proximity between the memories of National-Socialist terror and Jewish life, which is inscribed into the post-war history of locations like Flossenbürg and the neighbouring town of Floss, as is the case across Europe.

Dr Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek discussed the diverse success stories of Jewish museums with an eye to their background of interests and conflicts in society, arguably making Jewish museums text cases for identity and a site of a somewhat elitist creation of meaning – something that can be a challenge and a problem for the museums alike. She encouraged the museums to confront these interests with both self-confidence and self-awareness, and to take the chance, “to address Jewish history and experience also as a pattern of other minorities’ histories and experiences“. “With the Jewish experience of migration Jewish Museums generate also new memories, they make the historical and cultural memory more dynamic“.

In the panel discussion Where We Are. Site, Space, Context Hanno Loewy discussed the different spatial dimensions of Jewish museums with Janne Laursen (The Danish Jewish Museum, Copenhagen), Silvia Planas (Museum of Jewish History – Foundation Call de Girona, Spain) and Katarzyna Nowakowska-Sito (Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw).

Delegates could further participate in workshops on museum education (Elisabeth Schulte), new destinations for Jewish built heritage (Otto Lohr), and different workshops on exhibition making by Bernhard Purin, by Hannes Sulzenbacher, and by Jutta Fleckenstein and Piritta Kleiner. In the various workshops about curatorial and educational practice it became clear that confronting these challenges also means to confront visitors and visitors communities with an attitude of openness, a culture of curiosity, rather than with a monopoly to educate.

Workshops by Elisabeth Schulte and Hannes Sulzenbacher at the Jewish Museum Munich © Viviane d’Angelo, textbau.com

In Munich excursions were offered to the Pinakothek der Moderne, the Haus der Kunst, the Synagogue Reichenbachstrasse and a major private Judaica collection. On the way from Munich to Hohenems, delegates also visited the Kunsthaus Bregenz.

According to Silvia Planas, director of the Museum of Jewish History in Girona the Conference offered “productive and interesting workshops that were equally productive and interesting, also focusing on the theme of the site, space and context. The workshop devoted to educational practice proposed a special and difficult question: try to make yourselves feeling uncomfortable in the museum or visiting the museum. And from there, try to think what things, situations or issues within your museum can cause discomfort and, therefore, reject potential visitors: an interesting experience of internal and external reflection.”

“Another positive feature of the Conference was its mobility – the opportunity to see exhibitions, collections and different Jewish museums. […] This small town of Hohenems has no Jewish community today, but there is the Jewish Museum, a restored synagogue building, used as common cultural and community centre. This is an instructive example for contemporary Galician towns – Drohobych, Zhovkva, Brody, where unique synagogues are deteriorating”, says Vita Susak from The Lviv National Gallery of Arts in Ukraine and consultant of the Keter programme who participated in the Conference.

On Wednesday 20 November a group of 25 delegates participated in an excursion to Switzerland. After a guided tour of the late 19th century Synagogue of the Jewish Community Basel by architect and historian Dr Ron Epstein, the group was welcomed at the Jewish Museum of Switzerland in Basel. Director Dr Gaby Knoch-Mund and founding director Dr Katia Guth-Dreyfus guided the participants through the permanent and temporary exhibitions of the museum. In the afternoon the group visited the private Braginsky Collection in Zurich. Dr Emile Schrijver, Professor of Jewish Book History and curator of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana of the University of Amsterdam gave an introduction to the collection of Jewish manuscripts.

Advisory Visits Grant Programme

The AEJM Board and Project Coordinator developed the Advisory Visits Grant Programme (AVGP) in 2012 to assist AEJM members in need of expert advice and training. The Programme is particularly focused on key issues for Jewish museums. The AVGP offers AEJM members both professional and financial support for expert advice and in-house training. Improving professionalization of Jewish museums in Europe and connecting sources of knowledge between these museums are the guiding principles for the new grant programme.

The AVGP is open for applications in three categories: Collection Management, Museum Education and Permanent Displays. Applications in the category Collection Management should have a primary focus on the identification, preservation, conservation and interpretation of Judaica or other items relating to Jewish life and history. In addition, applications relating to the improvement of accessibility of museum collections, such as inventories, cataloguing, and digitization programmes that aim at long-term sustainability will also be taken into consideration for grants. Applications in the category Museum Education should relate to the development of educational programmes and displays for special target groups, such as children departments. Applications in the category Permanent Display should have a focus on the development of exhibition concepts for the permanent display of a museum.

In 2013 the AEJM Board implemented three grants:

1. Irish Jewish Museum – Dublin 2. Jewish Museum of Switzerland – Basle 3. Museum of Jewish History in Russia – Moscow

In 2013 the AEJM Board awarded two grants that will be implemented in 2014:

1. Jewish Museum London: Permanent Display 2. Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum – Vilnius: Museum Education

Irish Jewish Museum – Permanent Displays

The Irish Jewish Museum in Dublin was granted an advisory visit to advise on the permanent display of museum artefacts. The museum is located in the original Walworth Road Synagogue, housing a collection of textiles and religious objects as well as an exhibition hall containing memorabilia of the social history of the Irish Jewish community over the past hundred and fifty years. Over the years the collection has grown resulting in overcrowded, small display spaces where the materials and the message of the displays are not always clear.

After an assessment visit by Rickie Burman in 2012, Hetty Berg, museum manager of the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam and collection manager Marischka de Louw (JHM) in January 2013 undertook a two-day visit to Dublin. This visit aimed at advising staff on improving and upgrading the narratives of the separate exhibition showcases, carrying out minor conservation activities and formulating further recommendations to the Dublin team.

Although the museum still faces many challenges in the further professionalization of its displays, thanks to the second advisory visit, the Irish Jewish Museum was able to rework and update various showcases, to use materials and tools brought by Marischka de Louw in fixing and creating displays, to add a selection of textiles to enhance the display, and to add documents and texts to showcases where there was a gap in information for the visitors.

“Having the advisory grant has given the Irish Jewish Museum the opportunity to look critically at the display and make long term plans for its development, something which had not been undertaken since the founding of the museum in 1985. We are greatly appreciative of the grant awarded by the AEJM, which has given us the help and encouragement greatly needed to begin to tackle this work” says Yvonne Altman-O’Connor of the Irish Jewish Museum.

Jewish Museum of Switzerland – Permanent Displays

The Jewish Museum of Switzerland was granted an advisory visit to advise on the development of a new concept for the permanent exhibition of the museum. After the founding of the museum in 1966 the permanent exhibition and the collection were enlarged, but the exhibition, including its furniture, was never changed. Although the collection, consisting of important objects of Swiss and European origin, gives insight into Jewish religion and culture, it currently neglects the social and cultural context as well as the history of Jews in Switzerland.

12 In April 2013 Dr Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek undertook a two-day visit to Basle. The visit aimed at advising on the possibilities for changing the permanent display of the museum. Renewal could be realized at the current location or at new premises, which is being considered by the museum team and its board. The advisory report focused on identifying basic museological issues and professional standards that should be addressed before the start of a renovation process.

“The visit is a starting point for the future development of the JMS” says Dr Gaby Knoch- Mund, director of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland. “We applied for a grant ‘permanent display’ in 2012, because we need to find an intermediate solution before starting the JMS at a new place. During the last months after the visit of Felicitas Heimann-Jellinek, the team has already developed some ideas of improvement for the permanent display at the Kornhausgasse.”

Museum of Jewish History in Russia – Collection Management

The Museum of Jewish History in Russia, which was opened in 2011, was granted an advisory visit to advise on the conservation and preservation of Judaica objects in both the storage rooms and the exhibition, on improving the collection inventory, and on preparing a museum catalogue for the wider public.

In November 2013 Dr Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek and Barbara Decker, Head of Paintings Conservation, Preventive Conservation at the Jewish Museum Berlin, undertook a three-day advisory visit to Moscow. By sending two experts, the different requests could be addressed. Barbara Decker focused on advising on practical issues in the field of conservation and preservation, while Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek provided practical advise on how to improve and extend the database of the museum collection and recommendations on preparing a catalogue.

With the help of the practical recommendations by the experts the museum was already able to start developing a new storage building with adequate climate control, lux level and security. The recommendations on the inventory system were also very helpful in planning the new museum database.

“The personal connections with experienced colleagues were very useful and helpful for us” says Maria Kaspina, Chief Curator of the Museum of Jewish History in Russia. “We received a lot of important practical advices that we have already started to use and are going to apply in the future.”

Cooperation

Educator’s Training Programme

In the framework of the ETP in Warsaw the AEJM closely cooperated with two institutions based in Łódź.

During a day excursion to Łódź on 15 October the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center and its director Joanne Podolska offered the delegates an important introduction to the history of the city and its Jewish heritage. The group was welcomed at the new Center and afterwards guided to different sites of Jewish interest.

AEJM’s second partner institution in Łódź was Muzeum Sztuki, a museum of modern and contemporary art. Leszek Karczewski and his team of educators not only led a hands-on workshop on creative teaching about art, but also gave insight in the museum’s education projects related to local Jewish history and dealing with the memory of this history.

Conference

For the excursion programme of the Annual Conference the AEJM cooperated with different institutions. In Munich delegates were offered excursions guided by experts to the Pinakothek der Moderne and the Haus der Kunst. In Basle the group was welcomed by the Jewish Community of Basle. In Zurich delegates visited the Braginsky Private Collection. Prof Dr Emile Schrijver, Professor of Jewish Book History and curator of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana of the University of Amsterdam introduced the group to the Braginsky collection and its treasures.

Council of American Jewish Museums

AEJM treasurer Hetty Berg represented the AEJM at the Annual Conference of the CAJM (3 until 5 March) in New York.

At the AEJM Annual Conference the CAJM was invited to report on its recent activities and developments in the field of Jewish museums in the United States and Canada, which was reported by Karen Franklin.

Committees

Museum Education Task Force

The Museum Education Task Force (METF) is an advisory committee for activities in the field of museum education such as the Educator’s Training Programme (ETP) and applications for the Advisory Visits Grant Programme (AVGP).

In 2013 the Museum Education Task Force consisted of:

Petra Katzenstein – Jewish Historical Museum Amsterdam (the Netherlands) Elisabeth Schulte – Jewish Museum Munich (Germany)

Financial Audit Committee

The Financial Audit Committee (FAC) is responsible for auditing the Financial Report of the AEJM. The FAC gathered during the Annual Conference in Hohenems (18-19 November).

In 2013 the Financial Audit Committee consisted of:

Bernhard Purin (stepped down November 19) – Jewish Museum Munich (Germany) Zanet Battinou – Jewish Museum of Greece, Athens William Gross (elected November 19) – Associate Member, Israel

New Members

In 2013 the following institutions joined the AEJM:

Full Members

Old Synagogue Museum, Erfurt – Germany

Jewish Museum in Trondheim – Norway

Museum of Jewish History in Russia, Moscow – Russian Federation

Institutional Associate Member

The Russian Museum of Ethnography, Saint Petersburg – Russian Federation

Individual Associate Member

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

Communication

Newsletter

The AEJM Newsletter is a quarterly bulletin that contains announcements and reports on AEJM activities, relevant information on member institutions, grant programmes, and publications. The Newsletter is published online and is sent to members and the mailing list of non-members. In 2013 four editions of the Newsletter were issued.

Website

The AEJM website serves as a means of communication to members, as well as a resource for the wider public. The website includes facilities such as the Newsletter, AEJM activities, grant programmes, relevant activities for Jewish museums and collections, members reports, and other current developments.

Financial Support

The AEJM is supported by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe.

In 2013 the AEJM received a grant from The David Berg Foundation in New York for the Educator’s Training Programme in 2014.

Financial Report

Financial Report for the year 2013 - as at 31-12-2013 in EUR

Income Membership Fees 10.709,50 Rothschild Foundation 58.629,51 Excursion fees Switzerland 1.490,00

Total Income 70.829,01

Expenditures

Administration Costs Banking 106,93 Registration Chamber of Commerce 0,00

Project Coordinator & Board Salary PC 33.500,00 Office costs 1.200,00 Computer/Notebook 0,00 Travel Costs PM 4.401,96 Travel Costs Board & TTF 2.754,83

Training Programmes (CEP - ETP) & Conference Grants towards Travel Costs/Accommodation participants 7.850,00 Fees & travel costs Tutors Training Programmes & Conf. 5.172,55 Programme costs 3.780,77

Advisory Visits Grant Programme Fees & travel costs experts Grant Programme 8.999,17

Website Hosting & Development 927,39

Total Expenditures 68.693,60

Nep Surplus/Deficit 2.135,41

Board & Staff

Board

President Hanno Loewy, Director Jewish Museum Hohenems, Austria

Treasurer Hetty Berg, Manager Museum Affairs Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands – until 19 November

Bernhard Purin, Director Jewish Museum Munich, Germany – from 19 November

Secretary Magda Veselska, Head Collection Management Jewish Museum in Prague, Czech Republic – until 19 November

Joanne Rosenthal, Special Exhibitions and Projects Manager Jewish Museum London, England – from 19 November

Other Board Members

Erika Perahia-Zemour, Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki, Greece

Daniela F. Eisenstein, Director Jüdisches Museum Franken in Fürth, Schnaittach & Schwabach, Germany – until 19 November

Lucja Koch, Manager Education Department Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, Poland

Staff

Project Manager Eva Koppen, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

CEP Coordinator Inge Brouwer, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Colophon

Content: Association of European Jewish Museums

Editing: Joanne Rosenthal and Eva Koppen

Association of European Jewish Museums c/o Eva Koppen Jewish Historical Museum P.O. Box 16737 1001 RE Amsterdam the Netherlands [email protected] www.aejm.org