A-CEP 2016: Curators on the road

A major theme of the seminar was Jewish built heritage on location. The group was able to see numerous examples of Jewish built heritage in the south German country side, including synagogues in Memmelsdorf, Binswangen, Kriegshaber, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Ulm, and Baisingen, as well as the branches of Jewish Museum of Franconia in Schwabach and Schnaittach, located in a former Jewish home and synagogue, respectively.

Each building had been preserved, restored and presented in a different way, which prompted many interesting discussions about how to communicate historical narratives through buildings with a Jewish history. In each location, the group was warmly welcomed by guides and museum professionals, who gave fascinating insights into the history of each building, as well as the though processes and discussions involved in their restoration.

In addition, the participants got to visit the Jewish museums of the south German country side, the Jewish Museum of Franconia in Fürth and the Jewish Culture Museum Augsburg-Schwaben, where they were given curatorial tours of the museums by the directors.

The second theme of the seminar was temporary exhibits, and workshops were given at three different temporary exhibits in different museums. Starting in Munich, the group visited the exhibit “Beer is the Wine of this Land: Jewish Brewery Tales” in the Jewish Museum Munich, and was even treated to a sample of the beer brewed especially for this exhibition. The Ulm Museum showed “Questions of Faith. Chat Rooms along the Way to the Modern Era”, dealing with inter-faith relations through the ages. The last temporary exhibit visited was “Odd”, in which the Jewish Museum Hohenems reflects on its 25-year long history through objects from its collection.

The trip ended in Hohenems, at the foot of the Austrian Alps, where the group visited the Jewish cemetery and the former Hohenems synagogue and mikve, explored the Jewish museum’s permanent and temporary exhibits, and enjoyed a farewell dinner in a restaurant housed in a former Jewish school.

The participants agreed that it had been an intense week, filled with new knowledge, ideas, inspiration and connections. The AEJM looks forward to welcoming more participants for 2016’s second Advanced Curatorial Education Programme – stay tuned for more information!