Annual Conference Paris 2025
Jewish Museums and Democracy
Speakers
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Eva Atlan, Jewish Museum Frankfurt
Art historian and at the Jewish Museum Frankfurt since 2005. Until 2018, she was curator for art and Judaica, then head of collections, and since 2021 she has been deputy director and head of collections. She has curated numerous exhibitions.
Carmen Álvarez Nogales, director, Jewish Museum Toledo
Director of the Sephardic Museum of Toledo, Spain. She holds degrees in Journalism and Humanities, a Master’s degree in Cultural Heritage, and a Master’s in International Cultural Relations. She is an adjunct professor in medieval studies at Carlos III University of Madrid and a visiting professor at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. As the technical director of the Sephardic Museum, she has participated in numerous academic conferences and working forums; her role in coordinating the Annual Conference of the Association of European Jewish Museums, held in Toledo in 2017, stands out.
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Nesim Bencoya, Izmir Jewish Cultural Heritage Project
Born and raised in Izmir Turkey, since 2010 he dedicated himself to the preservation of the local Jewish heritage. As the coordinator of “Izmir Jewish Cultural Heritage Project”, within the framework of his responsibilities he initiated and led works of restoration, conservation and preservation of tangible and intangible heritage with the goal of establishing a Jewish Cultural Heritage Quarter. In 2018, he founded the “Izmir Sephardic Culture Festival”, for further preservation of the City’s Jewish Cultural Heritage and its promotion.
Maroš Borský, Jewish Community Museum, Bratislava
Director of the Jewish Community Museum in Bratislava since 2012, he also led the Jewish Cultural Institute of the Federation of Jewish Communities from 2014 to 2025. Maroš Borský studied art history and Jewish studies in Bratislava, Regensburg, London, Jerusalem, and Heidelberg. He has worked for over 25 years on Jewish heritage in Slovakia.
Christine Beresniova, Council of American Jewish Museums
Executive Director of the Council of American Jewish Museums. A dedicated leader in the field, she builds strategic partnerships, champions the role of Jewish museums, and drives professional development through innovative programs and workshops. Christine holds a Ph.D. in Education Policy from Indiana University and a Master’s in International Education from The George Washington University. Her previous roles include positions at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the South Carolina Council on the Holocaust, and the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida. She is the author of Holocaust Education in Lithuania: Community, Conflict, and the Making of Civil Society (Lexington Press, 2017), and has contributed to publications including European Education, Tablet, and David Magazine.
Elisa Boularand, Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme, Paris
Learning and access officer at the musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme for two years. As an educator, she works with varied audiences as she gives tours of the permanent collection as well as the temporary displays. Lately, she has been touring the exhibition Alfred Dreyfus. Truth and Justice. She also delivers workshops aiming at discovering the collections with a hands-on pedagogical approach. Elisa was trained in Art History and Museum Studies at the Ecole du Louvre (Paris) and at the University of St Andrews (Scotland).”
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Ewa Chomicka, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Cultural anthropologist, museum professional, and contemporary art curator. She heads the Laboratory of Museum Practices at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. The Laboratory focuses on developing collaborations between the museum and artists, as well as interdisciplinary, experimental initiatives drawing from art, research, and activism — aimed both at the public and at museum teams.
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Joseph Dadoune, Artist, Paris
Artist whose protean work combines video, photography, performance, drawing, painting, sound production, installation and architecture. His practice is permeated by the tensions between the Eastern and Western world, between religious and secular life, between central power and the periphery. He brings together the intimate body and political body, the desire for protection and social action, housing and individuality, territory and confinement, in works that resonate with questions of exile, gender and identity. He presented “The Cry of Flowers” exhibition at the mahJ in 2023. In a utopian dimension of art, he is particularly interested in post-colonial issues and contemporary symbolic violence, drawing on the past and the sacred, which he formally links to the present. Establishing that all materiality carries its own symbolic charge, and thus carries an ancient semantics, he offers to question and cross time, sometimes resorting to strangeness, to a kind of manifestation of the invisible, and thus finding “a way to show by hiding, to preserve the truth”.
Lisa de Goffau, Jewish Historical Quarter Amsterdam
Lisa de Goffau studied Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Leiden University and the University of Amsterdam. She works as a curator at the Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam where she focuses on the research towards and acquisitions for the museum collection, the permanent presentation and religious heritage in general.
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Pascale Falek, European Commission
Policy Officer in the Office of the Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life, has overseen implementation of the 2021–2030 EU Strategy since 2020, focusing on education, research, culture, Holocaust remembrance, and community support. Previously, she directed and curated the Jewish Museum of Belgium and co-authored an archival source guide on Belgian Jewish populations at the State Archives. She holds a Master in Contemporary History (ULB), a Master of Studies in Jewish Studies (Oxford), an MA in European Studies (College of Europe), and a PhD in History and Civilization (EUI).
Julia Friedrich, Jewish Museum Berlin
Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Jewish Museum Berlin since March 2022. She is responsible for the museum’s exhibitions as well as for the various specialty areas of the collections, archive and library, and for collection management. From 2004 to 2022 she was a curator at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. She has curated numerous exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, featuring artists such as Jo Baer, Otto Freundlich, Pablo Picasso, and exile researcher Günter Peter Straschek.
Nicolas Feullie, Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme, Paris
Responsible for the mahJ’s photographic collections, he has curated a number of exhibitions, including “Les Falashas de Gondar à Jérusalem” (2001), “Roman Vishniac” (2006), “Nathan Lerner” (2008), “Les juifs dans l’Orientalisme” (2012), “Helmar Lerski” (2018) and “Erwin Blumenfeld” (2022). He is the author of a thesis on the Fluxus movement (1999) and the book Fluxus Dixit (2002), and has worked at the Musée National d’Art Moderne and at Videomuseum, a collection management network for modern and contemporary art.
Joanna Fikus, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Head of Exhibitions Department at POLIN Museum in Warsaw and Cultural anthropologist. Joanna Fikus is a Member of the Board of the Jewish Historical Institute Association in Poland and of the Founders Council of the Jewish Community Center Warsaw.
Marc Francesch Camps, AEPJ, European Routes of Jewish Heritage
Cultural manager and consultant whose work centres on the analysis and strategic planning of museums and cultural heritage institutions. His areas of expertise include governance of cultural systems, the intersection of culture and education, and transnational cooperation in the field of European Jewish heritage. He currently serves as project manager of the European Routes of Jewish Heritage, a Cultural Route certified by the Council of Europe, as well as Jewish History of Spain professor at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona.
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Erika Hedestrom, Jewish Museum Stockholm
Director of the Jewish Museum in Stockholm since 2024. She brings a rich background in cultural programming, media, and public engagement. Prior to this, she led national remembrance and education initiatives at the Living History Forum – a Swedish government agency that draws on the lessons of history, with a particular focus on Holocaust education. Erika has also worked in cultural policy, journalism, and communications. Her work centres on storytelling, memory, and fostering civic dialogue through culture.
Judith Hoekstra, Jewish Museum Amsterdam
Curator of modern and contemporary art & photography at the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam, where she has worked since 2019 and curated several exhibitions of contemporary artists, such as Sigalit Landau, Gabriel Lester and Iris Hassid. Currently, she is working on a Judy Chicago solo exhibition (in collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery, London) that will open in February 2026.
Sandy Hollis, Sydney Jewish Museum
Head of Education and the Professional and Community Education Officer at the Sydney Jewish Museum where she is involved in offering a range of educational opportunities to groups such as Australian Defence Force, Australian Police, Healthcare workers, religious leadership and thousands of students both in terms of the Holocaust section of the Museum and the new Human Rights Centre.
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Nisya Isman Allovi, Quincentennial Foundation Museum of Turkish Jews
Director and curator of The Quincentennial Foundation Museum of Turkish Jews in Istanbul. She holds a degree in International Relations and Cultural Heritage and Tourism. She organizes education programs for school groups and guides, contributed to various publications on Turkish Jewish life, and writes in Şalom newspaper about Museum collections on a weekly basis.
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Petra Katzenstein, Jewish Cultural Quarter Amsterdam
Director of the Jewish Museum Junior at the Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam. Since 1985, she has worked in education and helped develop the highly regarded I ASK method for Jewish Museum education.
Maya Katznelson, Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center
Founder and Chief Curator of the Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center. A cultural producer and curator, she has extensive experience in developing multidisciplinary international projects. She holds an MA in Museum Cultures with Curating from Birkbeck, University of London, and a degree in Journalism with a focus on audiovisual media and PR. Maya has led major exhibitions with leading museums and cultural institutions, and led a range of cultural, educational, and creative initiatives. She currently leads the development of the Virtual Belarusian Jewish Museum.
Grigoriy Kheifets, Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center
Product Manager and Digital Curator of various projects at the intersection of technology, cultural heritage, and education. Currently leading product development for the Virtual Belarusian Jewish Museum and multimedia exhibition Belarus Shtetl, crafting immersive digital experiences that merge technology, 3D modelling, historical restoration, and narration. Active in informal Jewish education since 2013 and curating cultural initiatives since 2018. Background includes extensive expertise in product and brand community building, growth strategy, influencer marketing, and social media for digital products across diverse domains.
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Naomi Lubrich, Jewish Museum Switzerland
Director of the Jewish Museum Switzerland since 2015, Naomi Lubrich studied comparative literature and fashion history in New York and Berlin (Columbia University, BA, Freie Universität, Ph.D.). She worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1996–1998) and the Jewish Museum Berlin (1999–2017).
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Pavla Niklova, Jewish Museum in Prague
Director of the Jewish Museum in Prague since July 2023. She previously led the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation in New York and was Head of Development and PR at the Jewish Museum in Prague, where she oversaw the 2006 centenary program.
Jakub Nowakowski, Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre
Director of the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre since 2023. Author and co-author or numerous articles and publications, as well as co-curator of the Museum exhibitions, including “The Girl in the Diary. Searching for Rywka from the Lodz Ghetto”, which since 2018 has been presented in the most important Holocaust and Jewish Museums in the United States. For 13 years he served as the director of the Galicia Jewish Museum in Kraków, Poland.
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Thomas Otten, MiQua. LVR-Jewish Museum in Cologne
Head of the Project of MiQua. LVR-Jewish Museum in the Archaeological quarter of Cologne since 2016. Since 2008 he is lecturer at the University of Cologne in the archaeological institute and since 2020 lecturer at the University of Munich. Between 2006 and 2016 he was head of the monuments office in the ministry of North-Rhine-Westfalia. His research interests are the late antique and byzantine period, early Christianity, and the protection of monuments. His habilitation deals with the byzantine graves of Pergamon, with byzantine grave objects and burial rites and customs.
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Sharon Reichel, National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah – MEIS
Curator at the National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah – MEIS, in Ferrara. She manages exhibitions, coordinates cultural programming, and leads project development and fundraising activities.
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Paul Salmona, Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme, Paris
Director of the musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme (mahJ) in Paris since 2013. Previously, he was the cultural development director of the National Institute for preventive (rescue) archaeology (2005-2013) and the director of the Louvre Auditorium (1992-2005). He organized several symposia in the field of Judaism and curated the French presentation of the exhibitions “Roman Vishniac. From Berlin to New York1920-1975” (2015); “Golem! Avatars of a clay legend” (2017), “Jews and Protestants, crossed fates. 1517-2017” (2017); “Helmar Lerski. Pioneer of light” (2018).
He is the author of Archéologie du judaïsme en France (La Découverte, 2021), and of several contributions to the collective work Histoire juive de la France edited by Sylvie Anne Goldberg (Albin Michel, 2021).
Pascale Samuel, Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme, Paris
Curator of modern and contemporary art at the Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme (mahJ), where she curated the exhibitions “Chagall, Modigliani, Soutine… Paris pour Ecole” (2021), “Hersh Fenster et le shtetl perdu de Montparnasse” (2021), “Si Lewen” (2022), “Esther Carp” (2022), “Nouvelles venues” (2024), “Dibbouk” (2024). Since her arrival at the mahJ in 2019, she has invited an artist to produce a work each year. These have included Rainier Lericolais, Dove Allouche, Mili Pecherer, Joseph Dadoune, Jérôme Zonder and Pascal Monteil. She previously worked for the French Ministry of Culture and the Pompidou Center. Keen to pass on her knowledge to the next generation, she is also associate professor at the Université Paul-Valery in Montpellier.
Katharin von Schnurbein, European Commission
European Commission’s Coordinator on combating Antisemitism and fostering Jewish life since 2015. She drafted and now implements the Strategy adopted in 2021 and has received several awards, including an honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2024. She advised the Commission President on civil society and served as spokesperson for employment, social affairs, and equality. She joined the Commission in 2002 after working for the German Bundestag and studied Political Science and Slavonic Studies in Prague, Bonn, and Oxford.
Caron Sethill, National Library of Israel
Programme Manager Europe at the National Library of Israel (NLI), leading Gesher L’Europa, (A Bridge to Europe), an initiative to strengthen the library’s connections with Jewish Heritage institutions in Europe, and to share its collections with people working in Jewish settings in heritage, culture, education and adult learning. These programmes form the basis for the NLI strategy to expand its outreach across the Jewish world. Prior to working at the NLI, she worked at the British Council, promoting cultural relations between Britain and Israel.
Michaela Sidenberg, Jewish Museum in Prague
Chief curator and deputy director of the Jewish Museum in Prague. She joined in 1996 and has led international projects on Jewish history and culture, with exhibitions shown in Europe, the U.S., Australia, and Japan.
Perrine Simone-Nahum, CNRS / Ecole Normale Supérieure
Director of research at the CNRS and a professor in the philosophy department of the Ecole Normale Supérieure on the rue d’Ulm. She is a specialist in contemporary French philosophy. She has published Les Déraisons modernes (Editions de l’Observatoire, 2021), Sagesse du politique. Le devenir des démocraties (Editions de l’Observatoire, 2023) and more recently La Nouvelle Causalité diabolique. La démocratie à l’épreuve de l’antisémitisme (Editions de l’Observatoire, 2024) and Aron critique de Sartre (Editions Calmann-Lévy, 2025). She is also collection director at Editions Odile Jacob.
Brigitte Sion, Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe
Museum grants manager at the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe, for which she also conceived and developed the Judaica Index. Since 2019, in partnership with the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana and the University of Amsterdam, she organizes and runs an intensive seminar for early career professionals and graduate students involved with Jewish heritage in Europe. She is also looking at other options to identify and train the next generation of curators, librarians, archivists, conservators working in Jewish heritage institutions.
James S. Snyder, The Jewish Museum New York
James S. Snyder was appointed Helen Goldsmith Menschel Director of The Jewish Museum in New York in 2023, after serving from 2019 to 2023 as Executive Chairman of The Jerusalem Foundation. Snyder is recognized for his transformative 22-year tenure from 1997 to 2018 as the Israel Museum’s Anne and Jerome Fisher Director, where he led the Museum through the most dramatic period of growth since its founding and secured its stature as one of the world’s most foremost museums. Prior to his appointment at the Israel Museum, Snyder held several positions at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Amedeo Spagnoletto, National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah – MEIS
Born and raised in Rome, Amedeo Spagnoletto is the Director of the National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah-MEIS in Ferrara. He is graduated from the Italian Rabbinical School and studied Soferut at Tzemach Tzedek Institute in Jerusalem. He is librarian graduated from School of Library Science of the Vatican Library. He was the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Florence and a permanent consultant of Green Collection that includes the world biggest collection of Sifrè Torah.
Barbara Staudinger, Jewish Museum Vienna
Director of the Jewish Museum Vienna since July 2022, she studied History, Theatre Studies, and Jewish Studies at the University of Vienna and earned her doctorate in 2001. She worked at the Institute for Jewish History in Austria, St. Pölten (1998-2013) and served as a curator at the Jewish Museum Munich (2005-2007). From 2013 to 2018, she worked as a freelance curator in Vienna and was a member of the curatorial team for the Austrian exhibition at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial (opened in 2021). Before her current appointment, she was the Director of the Jewish Museum Augsburg Swabia (2018-2022).
Jana Švantnerová, Jewish Community Museum, Bratislava
Judaica curator at the Jewish Community Museum in Bratislava since 2012, she studied art history and Jewish studies in Bratislava, Kraków, Stockholm, Trnava and Brno., . Until 2025 she also worked as the curator of applied arts at the Slovak National Gallery and curator for provenance research at the Bratislava City Museum.
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Mats Tangestuen, Oslo Jewish Museum
Academic Director at Oslo Jewish Museum and Historian. Mats Tangestuen has contributed to a number of exhibitions and has headed the museums cooperation with international partners.
Eva-Maria Thiele, Berend Lehmann Museum
Joined the Berend Lehmann Museum team in April 2024, temporarily leading digital and chief curatorial work. In 2023, she coordinated the Jewish Cultural Days in Saxony-Anhalt for the Association of Jewish Communities. Since 2017, she has been working in Jewish history education, culture, and outreach. She has led workshops on Jewish religion, history, and contemporary life, and coordinated a regional network project. She holds degrees in Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science and is also a trained mediator.
Friedrich Tietjen, Jewish Museum Frankfurt
Head of the photo collection, archive and library of the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt. He co-organizes the annual conference “After Post-Photography” and teaches at universities in Germany and Austria. His most recent book deals with private photography in East Germany between 1980 and 2000.
Zsuzsanna Toronyi, Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives, Budapest
Historian and museum professional with over 30 years at the Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives, where she has served as director since 2014. She holds a PhD in history from ELTE and teaches at the Jewish Theological Seminary (OR-ZSE) and ELTE.
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Michal Vanek, Museum of Jewish Culture, Slovak National Museum
Director the Museum of Jewish Culture of the Slovak National Museum since 2021. He received his Master’s degree at the UNESCO World Heritage Studies of Brandenburg Technical University in Cottbus (Germany) and Doctorate from the Comenius University in Bratislava (Museum Studies / Museology). He started his professional career working on nomination of heritage sites for the UNESCO World Heritage List (Slovenia), and joined the Museum of Jewish Culture of the Slovak National Museum as a curator in 2009.
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Léa Weill, Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme, Paris
Léa Weill is a Junior Curator at the musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme (mahJ) since January 2024. She was an associate curator of the exhibition “Paula Padani. Migrant Dance: Hamburg, Tel Aviv, Paris” (2024-2025) and worked on the exhibition “Zoran Music: We are not the last” (2025). She also took part in the preparation of the exhibition “Alfred Dreyfus. Truth and Justice” (2025), for which she wrote the chronology in the exhibition catalogue. She graduated from the École nationale des chartes (Paris) in 2022, with a thesis called “The Dance must go on. The Paris Opera and its ballet during the Second World War (1939-1944)”.
Mirjam Wenzel, Jewish Museum Frankfurt
Director of the Jewish Museum Frankfurt, Professor at Goethe-University Frankfurt. She is the author and co-editor of various books and catalogues on German-Jewish art and cultural history. She also works as a curator and has developed several international exhibitions.
Monika Woznicka, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Monika Woźnicka is a cultural sector leader with over two decades of experience in both public institutions and the private corporate sector. Since 2019, she has been actively engaged in employee representation at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, serving as Chair of the Trade Union and a member of the Workers’ Council. She currently heads the Customer Service Office and contributes to the museum’s strategic development through the institution-wide Open Museum initiative.
with the support of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah