In Tandem Through Jerusalem
The Jewish Museum Berlin Takes a Stance
In this project, museum guides with personal connections to Jerusalem have been trained as tandem guides. They now lead visitors through the Welcome to Jerusalem exhibition in groups of two guides per tour. Their dialogue exposes fresh perspectives on the city.
Origins of the Project
“Let’s do an exhibition on Jerusalem,” we said a few years ago. The initial reactions ranged all the way from “Of course, we’re a Jewish Museum!” to “Wow – that could get politically tricky!” and “What stance on Jerusalem will we take?”
In preparation for the Welcome to Jerusalem exhibition, our Education department set out to make the city’s complex history and its religious significance tangible to visitors. The exhibition provides aesthetic, artistic, media-based, and historical approaches to Jerusalem and includes some impressive artifacts. Political perspectives are in the mix; how much so depends on who you ask.
The exhibition incorporates Jewish-Israeli, Palestinian-Israeli, Christian, and Muslim attitudes. To illustrate the divergent and diverse perspectives on Jerusalem, we also sought to show personal views of the city. We wanted visitors to get an opportunity to meet people for whom Jerusalem holds personal significance. Dr. Diana Dressel, Head of the Education Department, says: “We would love to provide several perspectives to complement the exhibition, but a minimum of two: two people with their own relationships to this complex, frequently discussed, and diverse city.”
