Our Cultural Program in July 2017

In the 1950s and 1960s, style icons like Grace Kelly wore the headscarf as a fashion accessory. Today, religious context is the main reason why women cover their hair. These traditions go back to ancient times, when status and fashion determined which women were veiled. Hair is still regarded as too intimate to be shown publicly by many cultures. Today, women in Judaism and Islam find new ways to combine their religious traditions with a modern lifestyle. Conflicts in masculine societies are inevitable; the boundaries of what is acceptable are under constant negotiation.

13 July–27 August 2017: The Blue Room

Art and Encounter Project

Twenty artists and art fans from twelve nations – a large number of whom have refugee backgrounds – have met in a room painted blue in the museum’s baroque old building every week since the beginning of this year to get to artistic grips with the theme "Dialog." The results of this exciting art and encounter project will now be shown in the "Blue Room" for six weeks.

The project is supported by the Friends of the Jewish Museum Berlin.

Public discussions with the artists involved:

• Saturday 15 July 2017 from 1 to 3 pm
• Wednesday 19 July from 4 to 6 pm

From 20 July every Thursday during the summer holidays, 10 am to 3 pm:

App through the Museum

Summer Vacation Treasure Hunt 2.0

Our rally begins right at the heart of the universe – what do the sun, the moon, and the earth have to do with our calendar? And why does the year 5778 begin already in September? The "Actionbound" App has plenty of exciting puzzles to solve and new discoveries in store for you. Following the treasure hunt, you will create your own calendar to remind you of important birthdays and future plans – and of this fun day spent at the Jewish Museum Berlin!

For children of 7-10 years.

2 July, 2–7 pm: Summer Party

Cultural Summer Program

Music and comedy, street food, and lots of events for children – our summer party is full of life and treats.

Singer-songwriter Noam Bar brings her clear voice, the German-Muslim "Datteltäter" ensemble a large dollop of satire, and Benno Lehmann his puppet Herrmann into the garden. A musical highlight is the premiere of the German-Israeli-Syrian "Mediterranean Collective" with special guest Yael Badash. Kids can create paper costumes with fashion students or master the bobby car course. Falafel, bagels, pancakes, and delicious dishes from the barbeque prepared by The Future Breakfast, Feiner Herr, RefuEat and Koflers Grill can be enjoyed in the plane tree grove. And of course you should not miss the guided toursand matzah baking.

3 July, 7 pm: Asfa-Wossen Asserate: “Die neue Völkerwanderung” (The New Völkerwanderung)

Book Presentation in German

As long-standing African consultant to German companies, Asfa-Wossen Asserate is very familiar with the grievances of the EU’s Africa policy. Western trade barriers and agricultural protectionism cause Africa to lose twice as much as it receives in development aid each year. In addition, tyrants are courted. It is precisely those the continent so desperately needs for its development who turn their backs on their homeland and thus aggravate the situation there. According to Asserate, Europe should treat Africa as a partner and specifically support those countries that build democratic structures and invest in their youth. This is the only way to enable Africans to create a humane future on their continent.

A cooperation with Ullstein publishers.

6 July, 2 pm: App Through X-BRG

Launch of the Digital Stroll Through Berlin-Kreuzberg

Who do we see in the city? And who not? Which stories are told? Students from the Refik Veseli School in Kreuzberg have looked for answers to these questions in their district, and in doing so have come across people who protest(ed) against injustice. The digital quest leads us to seven places of resistance in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Students talk about their experiences during the project, such as the search for the Jewish resistance fighter Hanni Mayer or the encounters in the neighborhood concerning the "Kotti & Co" initiative.

A cooperation with the Refik Veseli School. With the kind support of the Friends of the Jewish Museum Berlin.

6 July, 7 pm: Yousef Abad. Talk, Discussion and Video Art by Elham Rokni about Jews in or from Iran

Talk, Discussion and Video Art

The evening approaches the topic from different perspectives: Before the art project, Professor Eliz Sanasarian from the University of Southern California will give an introductory talk entitled Nuances of Identity Politics: The Jews of Iran on the situation of Jews in Iran from the 1979 revolution to today.

Then Israeli-Iranian artist Elham Rokni presents "Yousef Abad", and "Wedding" , two very personal artistic approaches: In her video projects including video recordings of her family in Israel and from Tehran today circle around the questions of temporal and spatial distance, of home and exile, and of the reconstruction and construction of memory.

In "Yousef Abad", Elham Rokni considers the inaccessible. In her case, this is the Yousef Abad district in Tehran, the place where she grew up and that she left in 1989 at the age of nine when her family immigrated to Israel. As an Israeli citizen, she is no longer permitted to travel to Iran. The screening includes the video recordings "Walk through Yousef Abad", "Golris cinema" and "41st Street".

In the short film "Wedding", Rokni tries to determine the date of her parents’ wedding, and in doing so discovers how her own family history is interwoven with the history of Iran.

After the screening, which is part of the Film and Reading Series "Between Marrakesh and Mashhad", Elham Rokni and Eliz Sanasarian will take part in a discussion.

Talk, Discussion and Video Art in Farsi, Hebrew and English.

10 July, 7 pm: Life Pictures: Classical Archaeologists and National Socialism

Book Presentation and Discussion in German

In their volume "Lebensbilder. Klassische Archäologen und der Nationalsozialismus" (Life pictures. Classical archaeologists and National Socialism), the archaeologists Gunnar Brands and Martin Maischberger document the spectrum of scientists’ possible behaviors in the environment of totalitarian regimes. Among the representatives of a science that at first glance seems unsuspicious are victims of racist or political discrimination, advocates of the “Aryan master race”, party members, emigrants, opportunists, and silent deniers.

Sandra Maischberger will chair the ensuing discussion on the role of the humanities in National Socialism.

A cooperation with the Seminar for Oriental Archeology and Art History at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the antique collection of the Berlin State Museums.

15 July, 6 pm: Molly Antopol – Before the After Party

Cultural Summer Program | Reading in German and English

Politics, privacy and the Cold War – inspired by her grandmother’s life, the US-American author Molly Antopol is currently writing her new novel "The After Party" in Berlin. In conversation with her translator Patricia Klobusiczky, she tells of the many exciting women who populate her work. In her award-winning début collection "The UnAmericans," it is the women who are often performing a balancing act – between their European roots and the new worlds into which the 20th century catapults them. Molly Antopol reads from her stories with actress Katharina Marie Schubert.

A cooperation with the American Academy in Berlin and Hanser Publishers Berlin.

16 July, 11 am: Julie Sassoon Quartet – Fourtune

Cultural Summer Program | Jazz in the Garden

Minimalism meets gentle willfulness – the multi-faceted compositions of the British pianist Julie Sassoon are characterized by subtlety and great impulsivity. Flying high with curious and harmoniously flowing improvisations, Sassoon’s musicians become the "extension of their own finger tips" (Bayerischer Rundfunk).

With activities for children.

30 July, 11 am: Olivier Hutman Trio & Stephy Haik | From Shtetl to Broadway

Cultural Summer Program | Jazz in the Garden

Molly Picon, Sophie Tucker and Barbra Streisand – these are just three of the legendary Jewish singers who accompany Stephy Haik and the Paris-based Olivier Hutman Trio from Shtetl to Broadway. Presented as jazz standards, the world-famous songs in English, Hebrew and Yiddish are interpreted by the French-American singer.

With activities for children.

Press photos can be downloaded below or here: https://www.jmberlin.de/en/press-images-events