Annual Report 2013
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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 1 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 3 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 Annual Conference – Munich and Hohenems THe AEJM Annual Conference 2013 took place from 16 to 19 November at the JewisH Museum MunicH (Germany)