The Jewish Museum London is a museum of British
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
life, history and identity. The museum is situated in
Camden Town in the
London Borough of Camden
The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and ...
, North London. It is a place for people of all faiths to explore Jewish history, culture, and heritage. The museum has a dedicated education team, with a programme for schools, community groups and families.
Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person t ...
is a patron of the museum.
The events, programmes and activities at the museum aim to provoke questions, challenge prejudice, and encourage understanding.
History
The museum, a
registered charity, was founded in 1932 in the Jewish communal headquarters in
Bloomsbury. In 1995, it moved to its current location in
Camden Town. Until 2007 it had a sister museum in
Finchley, operated by the same charitable trust and sited within the
Sternberg Centre. The Camden branch reopened in 2010 after two years of major building and extension work. The £10 million renovation was funded by the
Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
and private donations.
The museum is in a row of buildings in Albert Street that have been
listed Grade II by
Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...
.
Collections
The museum houses a major international-level collection of
Jewish ceremonial art
Jewish ceremonial art, also known as Judaica (), refers to an array of objects used by Jews for ritual purposes. Because enhancing a mitzvah by performing it with an especially beautiful object is considered a praiseworthy way of honoring God's ...
including the
Lindo lamp
The Lindo lamp is a silver Chanukah menorah. It is the oldest known example of a Chanukah menorah made in Britain.
History
The lamp was created by London silversmith John Ruslen in 1709. It was commissioned to celebrate the marriage of Elias Lin ...
, an early example of a British
Hanukkah menorah
A Hanukkah menorah, or hanukkiah,Also called a chanukiah ( he, מנורת חנוכה ''menorat ḥanukkah'', pl. ''menorot''; also he, חַנֻכִּיָּה ''ḥanukkiyah'', or ''chanukkiyah'', pl. ''ḥanukkiyot''/''chanukkiyot'', or yi, ח ...
.
The building includes a gallery entitled ''Judaism: A Living Faith'', displaying the museum's noted collection of Jewish ceremonial art. This collection has been awarded "designated" status by the
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) was until May 2012 a non-departmental public body and registered charity in England with a remit to promote improvement and innovation in the area of museums, libraries and archives. Its function ...
in recognition of its outstanding national importance.
The museum's ''Holocaust Gallery'' includes items and filmed survivor testimony from
Leon Greenman
Leon Greenman OBE (18 December 1910 – 7 March 2008) was a British anti-fascism campaigner and survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. He gave regular talks to school children about his experience at Auschwitz, and also wrote a book, ' ...
, who was one of the few British subjects to be interned in the
death camps
Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...
section at
Auschwitz.
The museum also has exhibitions recounting the history of Jewish life in England, supported by a diverse collection of objects. There are also collections of paintings, prints and drawings, and an archive of photographs, which consists mainly of black and white photographs from the 1900s to the 1940s, along with militaria from the former
Jewish Military Museum
The Jewish Military Museum was a museum located in Hendon, Barnet, North London, which featured exhibits about Jews serving in the British armed forces from the 18th century to the present day. It has now closed and the collection was moved to ...
, which merged into it in January 2015.
Exhibitions
There are two temporary exhibition spaces. The third floor houses major exhibitions, with smaller exhibitions in the temporary exhibition space on the ground floor.
Previous exhibitions
* ''
Asterix in Britain: The Life and Work of René Goscinny''
* ''
Elspeth Juda: Grit and Glamour''
* ''Designs on Britain''
* ''Scots Jews: Photographs by Judah Passow''
* ''Shaping Ceramics: From
Lucie Rie
Dame Lucie Rie, (16 March 1902 – 1 April 1995) () was an Austrian-born British studio potter.
Life Early years and education
Lucie Gomperz was born in Vienna, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary, the youngest child of Benjamin Gomperz, a Jewis ...
to
Edmund de Waal
Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal, (born 10 September 1964) is a contemporary English artist, master potter and author. He is known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels often created in response to collections and archives or th ...
''
* ''
Dorothy Bohm
Dorothy Bohm (22 June 1924 – 15 March 2023) was a German-born British photographer based in London, known for her portraiture, street photography, early adoption of colour, and photography of London and Paris; she is considered one of the doye ...
: Sixties London''
* ''Moses, Mods and
Mr Fish: The Menswear Revolution''
* ''Through a Queer Lens: Portraits of LGBTQ Jews''
* ''Blood: Uniting & Dividing''
* ''Memory Quilts: Triumph Over Adversity''
* ''Tiger, Mog and Pink Rabbit: a
Judith Kerr
Anna Judith Gertrud Helene Kerr (surname pronounced ; 14 June 1923 – 22 May 2019) was a German-born British writer and illustrator whose books sold more than 10 million copies around the world. Retrospective''
* ''Your Jewish Museum: Love, Journeys and Sacrifice''
* ''Blackguards in Bonnets''
* ''For Richer, For Poorer: Weddings Unveiled''
* ''Designing the 20th Century: Life and Work of
Abram Games
Abram Games (29 July 191427 August 1996) was a British graphic designer. The style of his work – refined but vigorous compared to the work of contemporaries – has earned him a place in the pantheon of the best of 20th-century graphic desi ...
''
* ''For King and Country? The Jewish Experience of the First World War''
* ''Four Four Jew: Football, Fans and Faith''
* ''
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
A membe ...
: A Family Portrait''
* ''
R.B. Kitaj: Obsessions – The Art of Identity''
* ''Morocco: Photographs by Elias Harrus and Pauline Prior''
* ''Entertaining the Nation: Stars of Music, Stage and Screen''
* ''No Place Like Home''
* ''World City: Refugee Stories''
* ''
Ludwig Guttmann
Sir Ludwig Guttmann (3 July 1899 – 18 March 1980) was a German-British neurologist who established the Stoke Mandeville Games, the sporting event for people with disabilities (PWD) that evolved in England into the Paralympic Games. A Jewis ...
: Father of the Paralympic Games''
* ''
Adi Nes
Adi Nes ( he, עדי נס; born 1966) is an Israeli photographer.
Education
* 1989-1992 Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, photography
Life and career
Adi Nes was born in Kiryat Gat. His parents are Jewish immigrants from Iran. He ...
: The Village''
* ''
Roman Vishniac
Roman Vishniac (; russian: link=no, Рома́н Соломо́нович Вишня́к; August 19, 1897 – January 22, 1990) was a Russian-American photographer, best known for capturing on film the culture of Jews in Central and Eastern Euro ...
Rediscovered'', presented simultaneously at
The Photographers' Gallery
The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography.
It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established i ...
.
* ''
Jews, Money, Myth'', exploring antisemitic imagery linking Jews with money. Alongside manifestations of antisemitic imagery dating back to
Judas
Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betr ...
and
Thirty pieces of silver
Thirty pieces of silver was the price for which Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, according to an account in the Gospel of Matthew 26:15 in the New Testament. Before the Last Supper, Judas is said to have gone to the chief priests and agreed to hand ...
, the exhibit featured a display case of the popular Polish "
Lucky Jew
The Jew with a coin (, also little Jew (), or lucky Jew ()) is a good luck charm in Poland, where images or figurines of the character, usually accompanied by a proverb, are said to bring good fortune, particularly financially. For most Poles ...
" figurines.
* ''Charlotte Salomon: Life? or Theatre?''
See also
*
History of the Jews in England
The history of the Jews in England goes back to the reign of William the Conqueror. Although it is likely that there had been some Jewish presence in the Roman period, there is no definitive evidence, and no reason to suppose that there was an ...
References
External links
*
Jewish Museum Londonwithin
Google Arts & Culture
{{Authority control
1932 establishments in England
Art museums and galleries in London
Camden Town
Charities based in London
Ethnic museums in the United Kingdom
Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden
Grade II listed museum buildings
Camden Jewish Museum
Museums established in 1932
Museums in the London Borough of Camden