JMB Journal 12:
Ban on Images

Is there a ban on images in Judaism and Islam? In 2014, a symposium held at the Academy of the Jewish Museum Berlin tackled this question.

It investigated how people have treated images in various eras, regions, and religious traditions, how a ban on images was justified theologically, and what alternative art forms resulted from it. These questions remain just as relevant today.

In this issue of our JMB Journal, we present selected papers from this symposium.

Silvia Naef examines Islam's founding religious texts with regard to their provisions on representative images. Inka Bertz addresses the ambivalent dichotomy between a ban on images and adoration of the image, while Emile Schrijver looks closely at a special art form: micrography. Eckhard Nordhofen offers an overview of the history of monotheism in media, while Frederek Musall incorporates modern media, particularly comics and pop art, into his analysis of how Jews have interacted with images. Finally, Berlin artist Elke Steiner drew a comic strip for us.

Featuring articles by Inka Bertz, Silvia Naef, Eckhard Nordhofen, Adriana Altaras, Emile Schrijver, Elke Steiner, and Frederek Musall along with information about the exhibition Obedience: An Installation in 15 Rooms by Saskia Boddeke & Peter Greenaway, the photograph The Elevated and Me by Ilse Bing, the Jewish Museum Berlin’s friends and supporters in Warsaw, the international conference Media and Minorities: Questions on Representation from an International Perspective, Fritz Wachsner’s bequest at the Jewish Museum Berlin, the event commemorating the Blue Note’s 75th birthday, and the SemiTones concert.