JMB Journal 21:
Open

This issue of the JMB Journal is dedicated to the opening of our new core exhibition and gives you a glimpse behind the scenes at our museum: Our new director Hetty Berg talks about differences and similarities of working for Jewish museums in Amsterdam and Berlin. The chief curator of the core exhibition, Cilly Kugelmann, will take you through the renovated rooms and provide insight into the new focal points, scenography and media design. More than a thousand objects are on display in the exhibition you can discover thirteen of them in this journal. We have our conservators to thank for the fact that the objects can be viewed at all: In their workshops, they ensure that valuable items are preserved and ready for exhibition. A series of photos shows them at work. Michael Friedlander reflects on what a “Jewish object” actually is; the Israeli artist Gilad Ratman explores German-Jewish identities in his work Drummerrsss.

The opening of ANOHA, the Children’s World of the Jewish Museum Berlin, will have to wait a while due to the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic to welcome its young visitors. Nonetheless, this Journal presents some of the 150 small and large animal sculptures that are to be found there, allowing you to learn about the concept and new program of the Children’s World.

Including interviews with Hetty Berg, Cilly Kugelmann and Gilad Ratman; and texts by Michal Friedlander, Cilly Kugelmann, Barbara Thiele, Ane Kleine-Engel, Gelia Eisert and Barbara Höffer.

Read this and other issues of the JMB Journal online at issuu.com.

Colorful glitter curtain made of chains, and a blurred woman who is moving the curtain — JMB Journal Nr. 21: Cover
Photo: Yves Sucksdorff

Exhibition Jewish Life in Germany: Past & Present: Features & Programs

Exhibition Webpage: Jewish Life in Germany: Past & Present – core exhibition of the Jewish Museum Berlin, since Aug 2020
Guided Tours: JMB App – audio guide, available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew and Russian, available for download; Guided tours for adults as individual visitors or in groups – at fixed dates or by appointment, on site or digitally, in several languages; Guided tours and workshops für school groups – by appointment, on site or digitally, in several languages
Publications: The JMB Book – history, architecture and core exhibition of the museum, available in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian; Current page: Open – JMB Journal #21, with interviews and background information on the exhibition

Digital Content: Thematic room Torah – audios and objects on words, writing and language; Thematic room Music – religious and secular music; Topography of Violence. Antisemitic violence in Germany 1930–1938 – media application from the epoch room Catastrophe; 13 Objects – 13 Stories – unusual objects from our core exhibition; New Accents – interview with Cilly Kugelmann, chief curator of the core exhibition
See also: The Libeskind building; History of the museum