The Guided Tour and Children’s Event Preview for January to March 2013

Tours through the Special Exhibition "R.B. Kitaj (1932-2007) Obsessions"

23 September 2012 to 27 January 2013

Images in Flux and Flow. Obsessions: The Life and Work of R.B. Kitaj

Public Tour for Young People and Adults

The tour presents the life work of the great Jewish artist R.B. Kitaj. His friends David Hockney, Lucian Freud and others will be discussed as well as his intellectual role models Franz Kafka, Walter Benjamin, and Sigmund Freud. They – besides his diverse reading – were sources of inspiration for Kitaj’s works, into which they had direct input. From the mid-1970s, R.B. Kitaj positioned himself explicitly as a Jewish artist. He saw his work as a modern Jewish art and his images show what became an obsessive analysis of his Jewish identity.

Every Sunday at 2 pm

Where: Old Building, ground level

Please gather at the "Meeting Point" in the foyer

Duration: 1 hour

Cost: 7 €, reduced rate 5 € (including admission to the special exhibition)

Advance booking is not necessary

23 September 2012 to 27 January 2013

Group Tour "Images in Flux and Flow"

In the pictures by the painter R.B. Kitaj, countless references to various artists as well as quotations from literature, film, newspapers, and world history can be found mixed with his personal impressions, thoughts, and experiences. The artistic arrangement of these diverse sources of inspiration gives rise to irritating interconnections between things and events. In his highly expressive and often chaotic images, Kitaj shows himself as a seeker, is everywhere and nowhere, a commuter between world events and everyday life, between Europe and America, between Judaism and atheism, between arrival and departure.

Images in flux and positioning oneself are the guiding threads through the tour and lead into contemporary issues of belonging, identity, and life in the "Diasporic world."

Can be booked on request

Where: Old Building, ground level

Duration: 1 hour

Admission for young people and adults: 60 € fixed rate plus 2 € reduced admission per person, with a maximum of 15 participants per group.

Admission for school classes from grade 9 upwards: 2.75 € per person (including admission to the special exhibition), with a maximum of 15 participants per group

Bookings on tel. +49 (0)30 259 93 305 or fax +49 (0)30 259 93 412 or fuehrungen@jmberlin.de

Guided Tours for Adults

Saturdays

11 am: Jewish Life and Traditions

3 pm: Through the Museum in Seven League Boots

Sundays

11 am: Jewish Life and Traditions

2 pm: Images in Flux and Flow. Obsessions: The Life and Work of R.B. Kitaj (until 27.1.2013)

3 pm: Start of the Modern Age

Duration: approx. 1 hour

Price: 3 € plus admission fee (permanent exhibition: 5 €, reduced rate 2.50 €; special exhibition: 4 €, reduced rate 2 euros)

Please gather at the "Meeting Point" in the foyer on ground level of the Old Building

Further information and tour bookings (for non-journalists) on tel. +49 (0)30 259 93 305 or fuehrungen@jmberlin.de

Public Tours for Children

6 January, 3 February, 3 March

Halakah and Braided Bread – What goes into the Shabbat Basket?

Children’s Tour through the Permanent Exhibition

How did a Jewish merchant live 300 years ago? What did she pack in her suitcase when she went traveling? A prayer book, clothes, or even a mobile phone? On this stroll through the exhibition, our young visitors take a playful look at Jewish traditions and how they have changed in the course of the centuries. They have fun experiencing how it feels to wear a kippah, admire a real scroll, and sniff a besamim box full of spices.

Duration: approx. 1 hour, starting 11 am

20 January, 17 February, 17 March

The Crazy Crooked House

Daniel Libeskind For Children

Why are the walls at the Jewish Museum Berlin at a slant? Why does a staircase lead to nowhere? Why don’t flowers blossom in the garden? Tailored to their age group, our young visitors receive a fun introduction to the architecture of Daniel Libeskind. Afterwards they can create their very own crazy fantasy house with cardboard, modeling clay, and other handcraft materials.

Duration: approx. 2 hours, starting 11 am

Price: 3 € including admission and handicraft materials

Please gather at the "Meeting Point" in the foyer on ground level of the Old Building

Further information and bookings (for non-journalists) on tel. +49 (0)30 259 93 305 or fuehrungen@jmberlin.de

On the first Saturday of each month, tour admission is free for all visitors under 18 years.

Purim Program

5 February

Purim – The Jewish Carnival!

Costume Workshop for Children from 8 to 12 Years

The Jewish Purim festival is a colorful and noisy affair – children dress up and the synagogue is filled with the sounds of hooting, rattling, and clanking. On a tour through the permanent exhibition, children discover more about the festival and the magical Purim story. After lunch, creativity is on the agenda! Guided by a designer, our young visitors will create their very own costumes that they can take home for the carnival celebration.

Where: Old Building, ground level, Auditorium, from 10 am to 5 pm

Admission: 20 € (including tour, lunch, and handcrafting materials)

23 and 24 February

My Little Purim Game

Tour with Handicraft Workshop for Children from 6 to 12 Years

The Persian king, Ahasuerus, marries the pretty Jew Esther. When the king’s vizier – the evil Haman – decides to take action against all Jews, the queen comes to her people’s rescue. On a tour, the children learn about the Purim story and its fun customs. In the workshop that follows, they can make their very own Purim set – a colorful finger puppet theater! Please feel free to dress up, as is the tradition at Purim.

Duration: 1,5 hours starting 2 pm

Admission: 3 € (including handcrafting materials).

Bookings and information on tel. +49 (0)30 259 93 305 or fuehrungen@jmberlin.de

23 and 24 February

Esther – Queen and Saviour

Purim Puppet Theater for Kids from 6 Years and Adults

The Jewish puppet theatre "The Bubales" performs its interpretation of the Purim story. What do the moody Queen Vashti and the king in love, King Ahasuerus, have in common? A rather unusual beauty contest changes the world in this fun puppet show. The beautiful Queen Esther is very brave and rescues the Jewish people from the evil Haman. When the shameful name "Haman" is spoken, the audience can hoot and rattle and clank as loudly as they can! A small surprise awaits children in fancy dress.

Duration: 1 hour starting 4 pm

Where: Old Building, ground level, Auditorium

Admission: 3 euros