Manchester Jewish Museum Development Project Appeal manchesterjewishmuseum.com/changing Jewish Museum Development Project Project Appeal 2017

Contents Project Appeal

Project Appeal 1 In 2020 we will open a new Jewish Museum in Manchester. Inspired by stories of Jewish Manchester, it will be a museum like no other. Visitors will get to see rare and powerful objects, hear personal and Manchester Jewish Museum (MJM) 2 extraordinary stories, cook and eat Jewish food and travel back in time to explore Manchester’s oldest surviving . Why do we need a new museum? 3

In today’s changing multicultural world we need this new Over the following pages you will see the latest museum Case for Support 4 museum more than ever. From stories of Holocaust Survivors designs, which will be developed further once all funding has to Middle Eastern refugees, the 30,000 items in our collection been secured. A two-storey extension will be built and our remind us what happens when people, politics and religion Grade II* listed synagogue repaired and restored. To help us The Extension 5 drive us apart – and how a city like Manchester can bring reach our fundraising target we are now offering naming/ people together. dedication opportunities. This is a unique opportunity to have your name, or the name of a loved one, on permanent The Gallery 6 Our new museum, located on – “the display in a museum that will inspire thousands of people for most diverse street in the UK” – will bring people of all faiths, generations to come. Learning & Community Studio 8 backgrounds and ages together. From the stories we tell in our new gallery to the bagels we bake in our ‘Kitchen’, our new It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a museum. Join us museum will help create a brighter, more harmonious future, on our journey to make it happen. Please help us over that final The Synagogue 10 actively promoting the acceptance and understanding of all fundraising hurdle by pledging your support today. faiths and cultures. Yours sincerely, Project Timescale 12 The first phase of this project is now almost complete thanks to a £426,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). In June we will be requesting a second grant from HLF for Funding Opportunities 13 almost £3million, covering the majority of project costs. We have so far raised £1million in match funding – well over half the required amount. We now need your support to raise the remaining amount. Max Dunbar Chief Executive Officer

1 Manchester Jewish Museum Development Project Project Appeal 2017

To fight anti-Semitism To promote social cohesion “The only way to deal with anti-Semitism is to and inter-cultural increase education” (Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs) understanding • Greater Manchester suffered more anti-Semitic attacks than London in 2011 • Break down barriers about faith and ethnicity – • To effectively fight anti-Semitism and prejudice essential for the future of multicultural Britain MJM needs new facilities to educate non-Jewish Manchester Jewish Museum (MJM) • Bring different communities together, sharing people about Judaism and Jewish people: heritage, faith, traditions and culture • In a recent MJM survey 85% of teachers Established in 1984 MJM is the only UK Jewish museum outside London and is the only accredited • Unite Manchester’s Jewish community with a agreed that the museum needs a museum housed inside a (former) synagogue building. museum for everyone, from Reform to Haredi dedicated education room

Over the past 30 years the museum has grown as a: Achievements Over the past 30 years an estimated 500,000 children have 1. Social History Museum - telling the story of Manchester’s visited MJM to learn about Judaism and Jewish heritage. Jewish community from the 1780s to present day with a collection of over 30,000 items. MJM has won community awards from the ‘British Muslim Why do we need Heritage Centre’ and from ‘The Jewish 2. Centre for Education – offering a learning programme to Representative Council’. a new museum? schools and colleges, enabling young people to learn about Judaism and Jewish heritage inside a former synagogue. Since MJM’s new CEO, Max Dunbar, started in 2011 MJM has significantly raised its profile staging concerts, performances, high profile talks (Maureen Lipman, Simon Schama and Howard Jacobson) and a Chagall exhibition in partnership with Tate .

With the support of HLF and Arts Council , MJM is now reaching new, diverse audiences through its #SynaGigs To preserve the legacy of To celebrate and preserve programme. Over the past year an eclectic programme of Manchester’s Holocaust Manchester’s Jewish heritage events has been held inside MJM’s synagogue, including a Bollywood concert, Irish folk/Klezmer ‘mash ups’, hip hop Survivors • To celebrate the role, impact and achievements of Manchester’s Jewish community on a local, performances, comedy nights and Amy Winehouse and • Holocaust Survivors won’t be with us forever – regional, national and international scale Woody Allen tribute shows. we need to record and preserve testimonies now • Only 1% of MJM’s collection is on public display, • There is no Holocaust Centre in the North the rest is at risk in overcrowded stores • MJM holds one of the UK’s most comprehensive “There’s a real buzz about this place” • MJM’s historic synagogue building – the oldest collections about Holocaust Survivors – but recent visitor comment in Manchester - is in need of structural repairs none of it is currently accessible to the public • Personal collections of Manchester Survivors may be lost forever as many will only donate material to MJM if there is a Holocaust Gallery

Chagall, Soutine & the School of Paris

©ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2013 Sunday 8 Nov doors 6:30, show 7:00 pm Tickets £8 @ManJewishMuseum 20 June - 24 November 2013 #schoolofparis Book early to avoid disappointment! Manchester Jewish Museum This exhibition was originally curated by and exhibited at 190 Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester M8 8LW Book at www.manchesterjewishmuseum.com and 0843 208 0500 Ben Uri, The London Jewish Museum of Art www.manchesterjewishmuseum.com Manchester Jewish Museum 190 Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester M8 8LW (near Manchester Fort Shopping Centre). discover history | explore culture | celebrate diversity

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Case for Support The Extension

In 2020 we plan to open a new and inspirational Jewish Museum in Manchester. In this new museum A contemporary two-storey extension will be built next to our synagogue, giving us a stronger presence over 50,000 visitors a year will learn about Jewish Manchester and, for many, step foot inside a on the busy Cheetham Hill Road. The extension has been inspired by the Moorish (Islamic) architecture synagogue for the very first time. of our own Sephardi synagogue.

The new museum will bring visitors of all faiths, backgrounds 6,000 schoolchildren, introducing them to themes such as the “The combination of distinctly Islamic motifs in a Jewish and ages together, building bridges to help people appreciate Sabbath, Jewish Festivals and the Holocaust. Unfortunately building holds a poetic symbolism of the cultural dialogue and celebrate the multicultural world we live in today. We need school bookings are falling due to the poor facilities we offer between these two cultures, which we intend to reflect within your support to make this happen. schools. With improved learning spaces, school bookings will the new extension.” (Katy Marks, Architect) increase. In the first 3 years of the newly opened museum A Collection of National Significance we plan to teach over 40,000 schoolchildren. By talking, The extension will have a new welcoming entrance, making it With over 30,000 items, our collection tells the story of exploring, sharing and showing children what it means to be clear that we are a museum for everyone, not a synagogue. Manchester’s Jewish community in exceptional depth. The Jewish, we will play a major role in Manchester’s fight against Walking through this entrance, visitors will be immediately national and international significance of the collection is anti-Semitism. drawn to our new food offer - a Jewish Kitchen. This ‘Kitchen’ widely recognised by leading historians, being described as will be more than a traditional museum café, acting as both “outstanding” with “certain exceptional resources richer and Holocaust Education an eatery and learning experience. It will encourage visitors to more extensive than those of the Jewish Museum London and A major new gallery will enable us to share the stories of enjoy traditional Jewish food whilst also educating them about rare, if not unique, among European Jewish museums” (Rickie the Manchester Survivors (1930s refugees, Kindertransport kosher dietary laws. Alongside the ‘Kitchen’ will be changing Burman, former Director, Jewish Museum London). refugees and concentration camp survivors). We hold over displays and a contemporary shop, selling Jewish themed 700 hours of recorded testimonies from these Holocaust gifts. We currently only show 1% of this “outstanding” collection. Survivors and have over 1,500 related photographs. We will With a new, larger gallery we can showcase more of our use our Holocaust collections to create a powerful immersive A new archive store will be created on the Ground Floor, collection in more engaging, meaningful and relevant ways, gallery experience to ensure future generations never forget. enabling us to store more of our collection on-site. New visitor bringing the stories of Manchester’s Jews vividly to life. Working closely with partners, such as the UK Holocaust facilities will be created at the rear of the extension, alongside Memorial Foundation, Association of Jewish Refugees and a lift, which will make the building fully accessible. Building Bridges Holocaust Educational Trust, we will develop and deliver joint We are located in Cheetham Hill where 30 languages are Holocaust educational resources and events for audiences The first floor of the extension will be dominated by our spoken and there is a mix of mosques, gurdwaras, churches across the North. new gallery which will be linked to the Synagogue by a new and . As a secular museum surrounded by such footbridge. diversity, we are uniquely placed to build bridges with other A Cultural Centre for Everyone faith communities. With a new gallery and community space New event and performance spaces will attract international we will be able to explore stories and themes surrounding artists, musicians, performers and high profile speakers for our faith, ethnicity, migration, refugees, genocide and growing audiences to enjoy. We will work with Jewish cultural discrimination. partners such as JW3, Jewish Museum London and Ben Uri and will become the northern ‘outpost’ for many of London’s Fighting Anti-Semitism Jewish cultural festivals (UK Jewish Film Festival and Jewish Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe and the Community Book Week). Our year round cultural programme will also Security Trust (CST) has reported more anti-Semitic attacks reflect the multicultural area we are located in, working with BECOME A MAJOR BENEFACTOR: in Greater Manchester than in London. The most effective way artists and local communities to explore wider issues around The names/dedications of Major Benefactors will be shown on a plaque in the new museum entrance. Major Benefactors of fighting back is by education. Last year we welcomed over migration, identity and community. already include Jack Livingstone OBE, Lady Steinberg and Beaverbrooks Charitable Trust. More details on page 13.

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The Gallery

“A place for gathering, self-discovery, storytelling, reflection and exchange, where journeys are taken, identities explored and the diverse voices of Manchester’s Jewish communities, past and present, come to the fore.” (Matt Schwab, Exhibition Designer)

A world-class permanent gallery will be created. Multi-faceted displays, featuring powerful in-depth personal stories, will bring to light the social history of one of Britain’s oldest and diverse communities. Stories stemming from our collection will reveal extraordinary stories about real people: their global roots and incredible journeys to and from Manchester; and how their shared lives have developed over several generations, into one of Europe’s most vibrant contemporary Jewish communities. The gallery will be based around three themes: ‘Journeys’, ‘Communities’ and ‘Identities’

‘Journeys’ will explore where Manchester’s Jewish communities came from. Why did they journey to Manchester and what did BECOME A GALLERY PATRON they bring with them, both physical and emotional? Visitors will The names/dedications of Gallery Patrons will be be introduced to economic migrants from the 1780s, Sephardi shown on a plaque at the gallery entrance. cotton traders, 19th century immigrants moving to Red Bank, More details on page 13. refugees and Holocaust survivors from Nazi occupied territory and people who left Manchester to make Aliyah or return . Star objects include the belongings of Helen Taichner who spent WW2 in hiding in Poland and our famous ‘Harris House Diary’.

‘Communities’ explores what it is that defines Manchester’s Jewish communities. What kind of organisations have Manchester’s Jews formed, why were they set up and what communal functions did they provide? We look at what binds Jewish Mancunians together and explore the arrival, movement and disappearance of Synagogues. Highlights in ‘Communities’ include a 1959 film from ‘The Waterpark Club’, collection boxes from the old Board of Guardians and Hymie Lurie’s Table Tennis trophies.

‘Identities’ will ask questions such as, what does it mean to be a Mancunian Jew? How does your identity change when you migrate to a new country? Here visitors come face-to-face with collections that illustrate issues such as naturalisation, the status of an ‘alien’ and internment. We will meet Jewish Mancunians who served in the British forces, who were active in communal and city politics, those who have converted to Judaism and those who held radical beliefs. A 1936 film of a Young Communist League protest at an Oswald Mosley Rally is Teddy Bear that survived the Holocaust, tragically without its owner an exhibition highlight. All the stories told here will be individual - allowing one person’s story to be explored in detail.

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Learning & Community Studio

At the heart of the new museum will be a new ‘Learning & Community Studio’. The current exhibition and office space at the rear of the synagogue will be converted, refurbished and equipped with modern facilities to create a contemporary activity studio for people of all ages.

For years, teachers have told us we need a dedicated education room. This studio will be that room. It will be able to hold a class of 40 children. Equipped with modern AV facilities, we will be able to use film and sound recordings in the studio, creating powerful and engaging sessions for primary and secondary school children. With a wet room area and cooking facilities, the studio will help us take our school programme to the next level, offering new sessions exploring Jewish culture through arts & crafts and food.

Outside of school hours, the studio will be used in the evenings BECOME A ‘LEARNING & COMMUNITY STUDIO’ PATRON: and at weekends by wider audiences. A four year Activity The names/dedications of Patrons will be shown on a Plan has been created and, with funding from HLF, the studio plaque at the entrance of the Learning & Community will host a wide range of community activities, including: a Studio. multi-faith cookery club, Hebrew lesson classes, storytelling workshops, a Cheetham Hill community choir, English language classes and faith festival celebrations – to name but a few! The studio will be a particularly valuable resource for local Cheetham Hill residents, providing a space for different communities to come together to explore and share their own beliefs, traditions and cultures.

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Repairing & Restoring the Synagogue

Our synagogue was founded in 1873 by Sephardi textile merchants and is the oldest surviving synagogue in Manchester. Historic England have described it as “one of the highlights of Victorian Gothic architecture in the country and one of the architectural jewels in the degraded local area”.

The synagogue is now under threat from a number of structural defects and is in need of repair. Through this project, a new roof will be fitted to resolve the spread of the roof trusses and to remedy cracking in the stained glass windows and walls. Specialists will also conduct extensive repairs to the brickwork on the façade. To restore the synagogue, historic paint specialists have been analyzing paint samples from the walls and pews. From their findings, we now have evidence of how the synagogue’s decorative features would have looked and what the original colour scheme would have been. In the project’s next phase, synagogue pews will be refinished, decorative motifs restored and the synagogue’s 1873 colour scheme returned. The current displays inside the synagogue will be removed and replaced with more light touch interpretation. On the Synagogue’s upper gallery, visitors will experience a soundscape of Jewish women’s voices, highlighting Angled mirrors and graphic panels will explain key features of the former use of this space as the synagogue, such as the Ark and Bimah. In the synagogue BECOME A SYNAGOGUE PATRON: a Ladies Gallery. cloakroom, visitors will be able to try on shawls and hats and a large seating plan will highlight key synagogue characters. The names/dedications of Synagogue Patrons Linked to this seating plan will be a hands-on trolley containing will be shown on a plaque inside the Synagogue. objects relating to named male members of the congregation and the rabbi. With a fully restored and refurbished synagogue we will stage even more cultural events inside our historic space - ensuring even more people get to enjoy and experience our synagogue.

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Project Timescale Funding Opportunities

June 2017 HLF grant application submitted with all match funding secured The project will cost £5million. HLF will cover the majority costs. We have raised £1million already. Help us raise the remaining amount by pledging your support today.

Sept 2017 Projected to receive HLF grant and start delivery phase

Sept 2018 MJM temporarily moves into Manchester Central Library for construction phase For the 'Gallery' and 'Learning & Community Exclusive Naming Rights Contact museum to discuss options Studio' Oct 2018 Construction Phase starts

Jan-Apr 2020 Building & Gallery Fit Out Major Benefactor Name/Dedication on main plaque in new entrance £100,000+ over 3 years

June 2020 Official Opening

Name/dedication on plaque outside either Project Patron £30,000+ over 3 years Gallery, Studio or Synagogue

Project Supporter Name/Dedication on new website £10,000+ over 3 years

In addition to these naming opportunities, all of the above will To discuss how you would like to support the project please receive: contact museum Chief Executive, Max Dunbar, on 0161 830 • Invitations to project events, including a farewell party to the 1435 or email [email protected]. old museum in 2018 and the VIP opening in 2020 • Invitations to site visits during the construction phase to see Alternatively, you can write to: the new extension being built and synagogue being restored • Regular updates on project progress via e-bulletins and Chief Executive newsletters Manchester Jewish Museum 190 Cheetham Hill Road Pledges are to be made on the condition that we are awarded Manchester the HLF grant in September and can be spread over 3 years, M8 8LW starting in 2017/18 financial year.

If you would like to support the project regardless of the above naming opportunities please do get in touch.

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