Posted by on 17. April 2018 0 Comments

“We’re no longer guests, we belong.”

An interview with Elena Bashkirova

The color photograph shows Elena Bashkirova in a black blazer and a violet patterned scarf. In the background is the Jerusalem exhibition.

Elena Bashkirova; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jule Roehr

On 21 April 2018, the Glass Courtyard of the Jewish Museum Berlin will be opened for the seventh annual chamber music festival intonations, featuring Händel’s “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.” Echoing our exhibition Welcome to Jerusalem, this year’s program features pieces that highlight the sanctity of Jerusalem. Elena Bashkirova, artistic director of the festival, took a tour of the exhibition then spoke with us about the “holy city,” the founding of intonations in Berlin, and the music that will be presented in the festival in the coming days: → continue reading

Posted in at the Jewish Museum Berlin, music, Welcome to Jerusalem
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Posted by on 29. March 2018 0 Comments

The Big Clean-Up

Passover in Jerusalem

Color photograph of a realistically modeled miniature steamroller with roller, excavator shovel, and driver's cab. A small metal tube for holding a feather and a candle holder have been attached to the upper side of the stylized engine compartment.

This miniature steamroller by the artist Avi Biran is put to work in the ritual search for leavened grain. If chametz is found in the house, it can literally make it flat as a pancake, Jerusalem 2008; Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe. You can find this and other objects related in our German-language collection database.

The time before Passover always seems a bit chaotic to me. Jerusalem looks a little like a German city just before Christmas. Everyone has off work and is busy preparing for the holiday: there is a lot to buy for the seder evening, and many people buy new clothing to look sharp for the family dinner. In homes and buildings across the city, rags, brooms, and vacuums flail frantically. This spring cleaning has a religious motivation: → continue reading

Posted in holiday, Welcome to Jerusalem
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Posted by on 14. February 2018 1 Comment

“Jerusalem is like a former boyfriend“

Interview with Dalia Castel and Orit Nahmias

Dalia and Orit are sitting on a couch

Dalia Castel and Orit Nahmias prepared for the interview by sitting on the sofa to watch Jerusalem for Cowards together; photo: private

Dalia Castel is a filmmaker, Orit Nahmias an actress at Berlin’s Maxim Gorki Theatre. Both grew up in Jerusalem – they are childhood friends and their paths have crossed on numerous occasions. Today, they both live in Berlin. When asked why they made a documentary about their hometown, they  finish each other’s sentence: “We had questions, …” Orit begins to explain, “… about Jerusalem,” Dalia adds. They turned their questions into a very personal documentary: Jerusalem for Cowards (2011). The film will be screened at the Jewish Museum Berlin on February 19th, and the screening will be followed by a discussion. → continue reading

Posted in film, Welcome to Jerusalem
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