Cultural Program in May 2015

4 December 2014 to 31 May 2015

Special Exhibition

Pictures Galore and Collecting Mania – Advertising in Miniature

The Jewish Museum Berlin continues its series of exhibitions on consumer and economic history with this exhibition about advertising. The starting point is a comprehensive collection of advertising stamps – stamp-sized images used mainly for corporate and product advertising that were donated to the museum by a private collector. Before the First World War, millions of these stamps were in circulation, sparking a veritable "collecting mania".

Location: Libeskind Building, basement, Rafael Roth Learning Center

Opening Hours: Mon 10 am to 10 pm, Tue to Sun 10 am to 8 pm

Admission: with the museum ticket (8 €, reduced rate 3 Euros)

6 May

Book Presentation with the Author (in German)

Michael Wolffsohn: Zum Weltfrieden (For world peace). A Political Outline.

The world is off the rails – and we do not understand it. Some, however, are very well aware of it, such as terrorists and heads of state. They push forward into gaps opened up by failing states, and use them. Many states have failed or will fail. Each new crisis triggers frenetic activity, a tourism of peace politics at the highest level which leads to no solution. Why? The historian Michael Wolffsohn calls for a radical rethink, away from the traditional states model towards federal systems.

Moderated by Omid Noripour, Member of the Bundestag, Alliance '90 / The Greens.

A cooperation with the Literaturhandlung.

Location: Old Building, second level, Great Hall

Time: 7.30 pm

Admission: 8 €, reduced rate 6 euros

Bookings: Literaturhandlung; Tel: +49 (0)30 88 24 250

13 May

Documentary

The Translator

Première in Germany, Austria 2014, directed by Manfred Wiesner and Grigory Manyuk, 59 min, German/Russian with English subtitles

Juri Elperin is one of the world’s most famous translators of Russian literature. Elperin produced the German versions of hundreds of works by contemporary Russian authors. Born in Switzerland in 1917 to Russian-Jewish parents, Elperin spent his childhood in Berlin, Paris, and Moscow. He joined the Red Army to fight fascism, taught German after the War and later became the most important translator of Russian literature into German.

In this very personal documentary by directors Manfried Wiesner and Grigory Manyuk, Elperin recalls his eventful life in his unique and almost literary way of speaking. Using aesthetic black-and-white pictures and unusual montages, Wiesner and Manyuk enhance the sense of nostalgia and melancholy that surrounds Elperin’s stories. Attended by: Manfred Wiesner (director), Juri Elperin (protagonist)

Location: Academy, Hall

Time: 7 pm

Admission: free

Bookings: Tel: +49 (0)30 25 993 488 or reservierung@jmberlin.de

19 May

Reading and Discussion with Adriana Altaras as Part of the Series "New German Stories" (in German)

Doitscha – Eine jüdische Mutter packt aus (A Jewish mother reveals all)

After her acclaimed debut "Titos Glasses" (2011), which tells the story of her parents in former Yugoslavia, Adriana Altaras own family is the focus in her second novel – there is the elder son David, who would like to be Israeli and provokes his Westphalian father with the words "Hey, Doitscha", the younger son who loves churches and believes that he was swapped at birth – and she herself, who as mother is caught between two stools. Adriana Altaras describes identity and religious conflicts with humor and paints a polyphonic portrait of the Jewish-German present.

Moderated by Yasemin Shooman

Location: Academy, Hall

Time: 7 pm

Admission: 5 €, reduced rate 3 euros

Bookings: Tel: +49 (0)30 25 993 488 or reservierung@jmberlin.de

22 May to 13 September

Special Exhibition

Obedience. An installation in 15 rooms by Saskia Boddeke & Peter Greenaway

The story of forefather Abraham, who is willing to obey God's command and sacrifice his son, is one of the strangest and most puzzling passages of the Bible. In the three monotheistic religions, it is among the most significant and most popular stories and among the first that were ever depicted. The text that is handed down in Judaism as the "Binding of Isaac" to this day still raises questions that are answered differently by the three religions. British film director Peter Greenaway and multimedia artist Saskia Boddeke understand the sacrifice of Isaac as a human drama. Which is stronger – God's command or the love of a father? And where can the modern subject be found between the priorities of obedience and trust? Taking these questions as their starting point, Boddeke and Greenaway have developed a coherent artistic scenario that approaches the biblical narrative subjectively, deconstructs it, and refocuses the constituent parts to create an emotionally tangible scenario.The result is a multimedia exhibition – using film projections, installations, precious objects, and its own soundtrack, the biblical narrative is staged as a sensuous and emotional showpiece in fifteen parts. Its dramaturgy is inspired by the legends of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, and linked with the experience of our time.

Location: Old Building, first level

Opening Hours: Mon 10 am to 10 pm, Tue to Sun 10 am to 8 pm

Admission: with the museum ticket (8 €, reduced 3 euros)

28 May

Symposium Accompanying the Exhibition “Pictures Galore and Collecting Mania - Advertising in Miniature” (in German and English)

Pictures Galore and Collecting Mania

The symposium explores in several lectures various aspects of consumer and corporate history in Germany during the Empire and the Weimar Republic. Based on individual case studies from the fashion, tobacco, metal, and luxury goods industries as well as on the basis of commercial graphics holdings of the Jewish Museum Berlin, the focus is on corporate networks, products, customers, and advertising strategies – the perspectives and insights for the history of Jews in Germany revealed by investigating these themes are considered.

Location: Old Building, second level, Great Hall

Time: 10 am to 6 pm

Admission: free

Bookings: Tel: +49 (0)30 25 993 488 or reservierung@jmberlin.de