Jewish Museum Vienna: A piece of museum for everyone!

2023-05-08 08:09:17

Vienna (OTS/RK) – In early May, the Jewish Museum Vienna, a Wien Holding museum, expanded its offering with a curated showcase at Museum Dorotheergasse, open to all and providing an open-ended, walk-by museum experience. As a window into the world, it is intended to be a bridge between the museum and urban society.

The role of museums in relation to climate change
Objects from the museum’s collections that deal with current social issues are shown at regular intervals. The first topic deals with climate activism and the role of museums in relation to climate change. The Jewish Museum Vienna would like to draw attention to this central social issue and also reflect on its own role as an institution.

Shown is an illustration of Creation from the Haggadah von Sarajevo, one of the world’s oldest illustrated ritual texts of Sephardic origin. The separation of day and night and the creation of sky, sea and earth are shown on four panels. When the world was finished, the Bible says, “God looked at everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” It was paradise. The state of the earth today is less paradisiacal: pollution, global warming and other man-made disasters threaten us and all life on the planet.

Thinking about sustainable practices
The curator of the showcase, Caitlin Gura, says: “Commitment to sustainability requires the efforts of society as a whole: from politics, business, citizens and museums! The bright orange on the window pane is not only an allusion to climate activism in museums, but is also intended as a warning for everyone. The earth is under threat and we must do everything we can to encourage a change in thinking.”

For the Jewish Museum Vienna, which was awarded the Austrian Ecolabel in 2022, thinking about sustainable practices in exhibition design and daily work processes is just the first step in an ongoing process that is far from over.

window to the world
The shop window – as a window to the world – makes it possible to react actively to current topics through regular changes. By addressing socially relevant issues, it offers the opportunity to democratize and make the Jewish Museum accessible to a broad public and the opportunity to experience a piece of the museum outside of the building. The next shop window theme refers to the anniversary “150 years of the Vienna World Exhibition – Vision and Awakening”. Shown is the Israelitische Blindeninstitut on the Hohe Warte, which organized the first blind congress in 1873 and discussed questions about education, employment and social integration of blind people.

The Jewish Museum Vienna cordially invites all interested parties to visit the new shop window and be inspired by the changing themes.

Press photos:

The photos for the mailing are available in the press area of Wien Holding at www.wienholding.at/Presse/Presseaussendungen. Reprint free of charge in the course of reporting, naming the copyright.