Invitation to the press conference “Taxidermied and put on display? Attempting an encounter with Jewish Museums”
04 July 2023Ausgestopft
“The triumphal processions of some are the lamentations of others. But who is triumphant and who are the others? And will they also be?” With this quote by the Jewish South African artist William Kentridge, the exhibition addresses the questions that both Jewish and ethnological museums currently have to face. “Taxidermied and put on display? Attempting an encounter with Jewish Museums” will be on exhibit from July 5 to November 26, 2023.
- Exhibition Site GRASSI Museum Leipzig
- DATES 05/07/2023—14/01/2024
Einladung zum Pressegespräch „Ausgestopft und Ausgestellt? Versuch einer Begegnung mit Jüdischen Museen“
The exhibition, formerly on display at the Jüdisches Museum Hohenems will, through deliberate re-location to the GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig, be expanded and commented on from an ethnographic perspective. In the “West Asia” section of the former permanent exhibition, you can still see traces of the old collections. “Ethnographic exhibition aids” in the form of figurines, old texts, and, in some cases, empty display cases provide the setting for this special form of inter-museum dialogue.
Jewish museums are increasingly confronted with questions about their role in society. Through the history of their collections and exhibits, they have always reflected the Jewish minority. The exhibition “Taxidermied Jews? History, Present, and Future of Jewish Museums” addressed standardization processes and projections that have shaped Jewish museums since their emergence around 1900. Today, they must emancipate themselves from those processes and respond to them with new designs.
The same applies to ethnological museums, which are currently receiving unprecedented attention. Due to the importance of current postcolonial issues, their exhibitions and collections are at the center of new social and political debates. With the REINVENTING program, the GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig, as an institution of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, is also on the challenging path to a new future: between divided histories, colonial pasts, and current global issues.
What does the future hold for Jewish and ethnological museums in light of current debates? Is it even productive to create such a “relationship” between the two types of museums? This exhibition attempts to answer that question, and, at the same time, provides museum spaces for thought and action beyond traditional disciplines. It features exhibits from 30 international lenders and museums, interviews an “empty” display case, illustrates Jewish experiences using unusual objects, and integrates works by internationally renowned artists like Steven Cohen, Nancy Spero, Annie Sprinkle or William Kentridge.
The accompanying program, with its educational and mediation formats, was developed and will be implemented in collaboration with representatives of Leipzig’s urban community.
