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A wall reading »I am Isaak/Ismail« in several languages to the right and projected images of young peoples' faces to the lefte left

Obedience

An Installation in 15 Rooms by Saskia Boddeke & Peter Greenaway

The story of the patriarch Abraham, who is prepared to obey God’s command to sacrifice his son, is one of the most puzzling episodes of the Bible. That is ample reason to dedicate an exhibition to the “Binding of Isaac,” as the passage is known in Jewish tradition. In Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, it is among the most significant and most popular stories and among the first that were ever depicted. And yet the three monotheistic religions offer very different answers to the questions that the passage raises to this day.

Past exhibition

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The Old Building is marked in green

Where

Old Building, level 1
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin

Where, when, what?

Trailer for the exhibition

The Curators’ Interpretation

In the exhibition, British film director Peter Greenaway and multimedia artist Saskia Boddeke portray the sacrifice of Isaac as a human drama. Which is stronger, God’s command or fatherly love? And where is the modern subject situated between the conflicting priorities of obedience and trust?

Taking these questions as their starting point, Boddeke and Greenaway developed a coherent artistic scenario that approached the biblical narrative subjectively, deconstructed it, and refocused the constituent parts to create an emotionally tangible scenario.

Using film projections, installations, precious objects, and a custom-made own soundtrack, the biblical narrative was staged as a sensory and emotional showpiece in fifteen parts. Its dramatic arc was inspired by the legends of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions and linked with the experiences and issues of our time.

Peter Greenaway

The filmmaker Peter Greenaway was born in Newport, Wales, in 1942. He is married to Saskia Boddeke and lives in Amsterdam and London. 
More on Wikipedia

(11 items)

  • This appeal from Saskia Boddeke and Peter Greenaway was started at the forefront of the exhibition.

  • A view of the big film installation I am Isaac/I am Ishmael; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Yves Sucksdorff.

  • On the walls of the exhibition rooms there are large-formatted projections of dance scenes with performers from the international dance company “Club Guy & Roni.” The dance scenes each illuminate particular aspects of the biblical narrative.

  • A view into the white room God and the Angel; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Yves Sucksdorff.

  • The Wings, Xooang Choi, 2008, Oil on synthetic resin, stainless steel; courtesy of Graywall and the artist.

  • The Room Sarah and Hagar was devoted to the mothers of Isaac and Ischmael; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Yves Sucksdorff.

  • In the room The Ram Damien Hirst's Black Sheep with Golden Horns (2009) could be seen; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Yves Sucksdorff.

  • The room The Binding makes reference to the so-called binding of Isaac; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Yves Sucksdorff.

  • The Video Box I am Isaac/Ismael with Peter Greenaway and Saskia Boddeke; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Yves Sucksdorff.

  • Recordings of exhibition visitors from the Video Box I am Isaac/Ismael

  • This video from "Kunst + Film" makes it possible to understand the feeling of being overwhelmed that some visitors to the exhibition experienced.

This appeal from Saskia Boddeke and Peter Greenaway was started at the forefront of the exhibition.

An empty room facing two walls, one wall is covered in portrait photos, the other wall is covered in text of various languages

The beginning of the exhibition forms a film installation in which children, teenagers, and young adults greet visitors with the words “I am Isaac” or “I am Ishmael.” The talking faces should invite them to identify with the childlike protagonists of the biblical narrative.

On the walls of the exhibition rooms there are large-formatted projections of dance scenes with performers from the international dance company “Club Guy & Roni.” The dance scenes each illuminate particular aspects of the biblical narrative.

Exhibit space, black and white photographs of hands line the white textured wall, a blue screen lays on the floor

A view into the white room God and the Angel; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Yves Sucksdorff.

Floating sculpture of decapitated fleshy white hands and arms form together to create an replica of feathered wings

Detailed view of the sculpture The Wings from the white room God and the Angel.
The Wings, Xooang Choi, 2008, Oil on synthetic resin, stainless steel; courtesy of Graywall and the artist.

A red room with one wall covered by a giant projector screen, the screen is showing an image of two women

The Room Sarah and Hagar was devoted to the mothers of Isaac and Ischmael; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Yves Sucksdorff.

A ram is floating in a large glass tank of liquid, the wall opposite the tank projects an image of a ram

In the room The Ram Damien Hirst's Black Sheep with Golden Horns (2009) could be seen; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Yves Sucksdorff.

Multiple chains, handcuffs, and ropes hang from the ceiling, there is large red text written on the wall below it

The room The Binding makes reference to the so-called binding of Isaac; Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Yves Sucksdorff.

A man hold the door open to a small isolated room with a smiling woman sitting inside, the outisde of the room is covered in portrait photos

The interactive Video Box I am Isaac/Ismael offers visitors to the exhibition the opportunity to take up the position in front of the camera as Isaac or Ishmael themselves. The Video Box should, similar to the film installation at the beginning of the exhibition, encourage visitors to consider the biblical narrative from a new perspective – that of the child, who will become a victim. Peter Greenaway, Saskia Boddeke, and the Video Box, Jewish Museum Berlin, Photo: Yves Sucksdorff.

Recordings from exhibition visitors from the Video Box I am Isaac/Ismael; more recordings from the Video Box can be found on the
Jewish Museum Berlin Blog.

This video from "Kunst + Film" makes it possible to understand the feeling of being overwhelmed that some visitors to the exhibition experienced.

Credits & Partners

Team Amsterdam

Directors

Saskia Boddeke & Peter Greenaway

Producer

Annette Mosk

Editor

Elmer Leupen
Jacobine van der Kamp

Composer

Luca D'Alberto

Choreographers

Roni Haver
Guy Weizman

Director of Photography

Ruzbeh Babol

Calligrapher

Brody Neuenschwander

Second Life Artists

Brynley Longman
Jo Esmell
Bernard Capitaine aka Iono Allen

Video Designer

Peter Wilms

Sound Designer

Danny Weijermans

Light Designer

Floriaan Ganzevoort
Maarten Warmerdam

3D Modeller

Chok Wah Man

Picture Researcher

Willemien Ruys

Set Photographer

Daan van Eijndhoven

Installation Photographer

Igor Mandic

Production support

Lys Bouma

Costume Designer

Willemien Ruys

Make-up Designer

Leonie Schuurman

Prop master

Jeroen Echter

Special Effects

Marten Hoekstra

Food Design

Sabrina Hessels

Actors/Dancers

Hendrik Aerts
Roni Haver
Zoe Greenaway
Stella van Leeuwen
Sofiko Nachkebiya
Adam Peterson
Igor Podsiadly
Skip Rijsdijk
Yoav Weizman

 

Team Berlin

Project Management

Margret Kampmeyer-Käding (Curator and Project Manager)
Helmuth F. Braun (Director of special exhibitions)
Saro Gorgis, Klaus H. Teuschler (Assistance)
Anina Falasca, Samuel Zettinig (Research)

Production Planning

KatzKaiser Architekten, Köln/Darmstadt: Marcus Kaiser, Tobias Katz

Production Management

Tobias Katz
Matthias Förster

Graphics

Studio Carmen Strzelecki, Köln

Media Engineering

Eidotech, Berlin

Video booth

Realisierung, Softwareentwicklung und Screendesign: DREINULLmotion, Berlin
Außengestaltung: buerominimal
Projektmanagement: Jihan Radjai, Mirjam Wenzel

Trailer for the exhibition

Compositing & Sound: Sebastian Purfürst, LEM-STUDIOS

Exhibition Construction

D4 Project, Berlin
Wolfgang Matzat, Berlin
Weisse GmbH Eberswalde
Dietz Bauservice GmbH, Berlin

Collection Management

Anna Golus
Petra Hertwig
Gisela Märtz
Katrin Strube

Conservators

Barbara Decker
Stephan Lohrengel
Adroniki Paliompei
Alicija Steczek

Set Up

Fißler und Kollegen GmbH, Halsbrücke

Painting

Marotzke, Berlin

Artistic Surface Design

Mario Kwast
Berlin
Patrick Gutschmidt
Liquid Paint
Berlin

Electrical and Light Installation

Viktor Kégli, 50Lux, Berlin

Décor

Manuel Schubbe, Berlin
Bärbel Schütz Plastik Berlin

Photo Production

das foto image factory

Graphic Production

Bartneck Print Artists, Berlin
repro ringel, Berlin

Exhibition Organization

Peter Dallmann
Gunther Giese (Spie GmbH)

Transport

Crown Fine Art GmbH Frankfurt

Design of Advertising Campaign

e o t . essays on typography
Lilla Hinrichs + Anna Sartorius

Marketing

Katrin Möller
Sascha Perkins
Gesine Tyradellis

Press

Jennifer Berndt
Katharina Schmidt-Narischkin
Sylvia Winkler

Online Editors

Mariette Franz
Alice Lanzke
Mirjam Wenzel

Editorial Staff Publications of the Museum

Christine Marth
Marie Naumann

Construction Team

Anna Augustin
Detlef Barrach
Mike Bindschädel
Michalina Cieslicki
Milena Fernando
Mariette Franz
Miriam Goldmann
Lea Heckel
Liron Herlinger
Julia Jokel
André Küter
Alexa Stahr
Jacob Lippold
Peter Litzroth
Karla Marsiske
Vivienne Noda-Bautista
Berrit Pöppelmeier
Mareike Poppinga
Paul Rehfeldt
Glafira Silvestrova
Ulrike Sonnemann
Oliver Stratz
Ann-Christin Wachtel

 

Exhibition Information at a Glance

  • When 22 May to 15 Nov 2015
  • Where Old Building, level 1
    Lindenstraße 9-14, 10969 Berlin 
    See Location on Map

With the support of the Friends of the Jewish Museum Berlin

With support from

Logo of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (with coat of arms)

We thank our partner

Logo: Wall AG

We thank our media partners

Logo: ZITTY Logo: Yorck Kinogruppe Logo: rbb Fernsehen Logo: monopol. Magazin für Kunst und Leben
  • Painting: a hand reaches into the face of a boy.

    Obedience

    Exhibition catalog, with reading sample for download

    Publication
    2015

  • “Kill Me a Son!”

    A Symposium about Abraham, Isaac, and Ismael. Recording of the opening event, in German

    Video Recording
    3–4 Sep 2015

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    Judaism

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    Religion

  • Long staircase with projected Hebrew and Latin letters that form city names

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