1 2012

1

NEW EXHIBITION: GEORGES KARS (1880 – 1945) – EARLY WORKS

Another exhibition in the Jewish Museum's series on Jewish artists is currently on view at the Robert Guttmann Gallery, from 22 February to 17 June. This time, the curator Arno Pařík features the early work of Georges Kars in a selection of paintings and drawings from 1905 to the early 1920s.

Almost forgotten in his home country, this artist has had several exhibitions since 1989 but –with the exception of a show at the Franz Kafka Centre on the Old Town Square in 1998 – they have been held outside Prague, so most people in the capital missed out on them. The main aim of this show, therefore, is to commemorate Kars's life and work for visitors and residents of Prague.

Kars was one of the leading members of the first, heroic generation of Czech modern artists who were far more aware than their immediate predecessors and successors of a deep conflict between their artistic visions and feelings and the traditional methods of academic art instruction that they had gone through. These artists clearly saw the need to break free from tradition and find new means of artistic expression that could not only illustrate but also create new artistic realities.

Although traces of Art Nouveau, Symbolism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and Derain's Neo-Classicism can be found in Kars's early work, all these influences were clearly overcome by a resolute endeavour to find his own artistic expression, based on outstanding drawing skills and an energetic painterly style. He ultimately achieved great success and recognition (being awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, among other things). Outside the Czech Republic, he is still considered to be one of the most famous Czech artists.

Kars was initially more fortunate in his life and career than many of his contemporaries; he was free from material worries and was able to devote his full energy to painting in the inspiring environment of Paris and Spain, where he spent time with his wife. The world he had become accustomed to and the humanist values he believed in, however, fell apart during the Shoah. A number of his relatives from Prague and colleagues from pre-war Paris perished in death camps. Kars committed suicide in a Geneva hotel on the night of 5 and 6 February 1945. During his life he had often exhibited in famous galleries in Paris and other metropolises; his paintings were subsequently dispersed across various public and private collections in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), France, Germany, Spain, Israel and the United States. The diffuse nature of his work and the impossibility of holding a retrospective exhibition in the past are the main reasons why Kars has not yet been sufficiently appreciated.

Although Kars's work was almost forgotten in his home country after the war, it continued to attract interest abroad. Retrospective exhibitions were held at the Musée d'art moderne (1983) in Troyes, where a large portion of his Paris works are kept, and at the Tossa del Mar Municipal Museum (1993) in Catalonia, where he spent his summers from the late 1920s and where a remarkable artists' colony was later founded and remained active until the Spanish Civil War.

In addition to works owned by the Jewish Museum, the exhibition at the Robert Guttmann Gallery also features works on loan from the Zlatá Husa Gallery, the Municipal Museum in Velvary, the National Gallery in Prague, the Municipal Museum in Kralupy nad Vltavou and private collections.

Robert Guttmann Gallery, U Staré školy 3, Prague 1, open daily from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m., except for Saturdays, public and Jewish holidays.

Parrot, 1907, oil on canvas, 64.5 × 52 cm,

Zlatá husa Gallery.

Opening of the Kars exhibition

at the Robert Guttmann Gallery.

Newsletter

ŽIDOVSKÉ MUZEUM V PRAZE המוזיאון היהודי בפראג

2

POLISH SEASON AT THE JEWISH MUSEUM

Last year saw the Israeli Season at the Jewish Museum, which was held in association with the Embassy of the State of Israel (for more details, see Newsletter 1/2011). This year's Polish Season at the Jewish Museum follows on from last year's association with the Polish Institute in Prague, with whom we hosted a concert by Poland's leading klezmer band in the Spanish Synagogue.

The Polish Season at the Jewish Museum aims to highlight the thousand-year presence of the Jewish community in Poland and to show how Jewish culture is perceived in present-day Poland. This project includes Q&As with leading historians and journalists from Poland and the Czech Republic, concerts by top Polish bands inspired by the Jewish musical tradition, and screenings of the most recent works of Polish cinematography that focus on 20th-century Polish-Jewish relations. The incipient Warsaw Museum of the History of Polish Jews will also be presented as part of this project.

As well as showcasing the history of what was once Europe's largest Jewish community and touching upon the often problematic Polish-Jewish relations against the backdrop of the tragic upheavals of twentieth-century Central Europe, the Polish Season at the Jewish Museum will also draw attention to the diverse range of Jewish features in contemporary Polish culture. We also hope that this project will help produce a base for future co-operation between the main centres of preservation for the Jewish heritage in the Czech Republic and Poland, i.e. the Jewish Museum in Prague and the incipient Warsaw Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

The Polish Season is organized by the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Warsaw Museum of the History of Polish Jews and the Polish Institute in Prague. The project is supported by the Czech-Polish Forum. The Junior klub Na Chmelnici organization is helping to prepare the project's musical component.

The following are being planned for the spring component of the Polish Season:

Cukunft Poland's leading Klezmer Jazz band in concert / 24 April, 7:30 p.mSpanish Synagogue, Vězeňská 1, Prague 1

Formed by the acclaimed guitarist Raphael Rogiński, Cukunft brings together charismatic figures from the Polish music scene who share a love of pre-war Jewish music. As the band's name (Yiddish for 'future') suggests, however, its aim is not simply to reproduce the old but to create a 'contemporary' tradition of Eastern European Jewish music, which might have emerged if its development had not been brutally interrupted by the Second World War. This is why Cukunft combines ancient music (particularly from Galicia) with elements of experimental jazz and a deep understanding of traditional music, based on thoroughgoing musicological and historical research, creating a dynamic and very modern sound.

Tickets can be bought in advance via Ticketstream or at the Palác Akropolis and Spanish Synagogue cash desks.

The Polish Season at the Jewish Museum

will be launched by Cukunft on 24 April.

3

Virtual Shtetl25 April, 6 p.m.Maiselova 15, Prague 1 (auditorium of the Jewish Museum's Department for Education and Culture)

Presentation of the incipient Museum of the History of Polish Jews – the largest project of its kind aside from the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem and the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

Po-lin. Slivers of Memory (2008)2 May, 18:30Maiselova 15, Prague 1 (auditorium of the Jewish Museum's Department for Education and Culture)

A unique feature-length documentary on the vanished world of Galician shtetls.

The following are being planned for the summer and autumn components of the Polish Season:Shofar in concert – a band that seeks a 'common denominator' between jazz improvisation and religious Hassidic music. Top quality musicianship enriched by a thorough musicological study of Hassidic compositions from the area of what is now Ukraine and Moldavia.André Ochodlo in concert – Poland's most famous singer of Yiddish songs.Screening of Joanna (2010) – a feature film directed by the acclaimed Polish director Feliks Falk, which tells the gripping story of a young woman who decides to take care of a Jewish girl during the Nazi occupation. Screening of Miejsce Urodzenia (Birthplace), a documentary directed by Pawła Łozinsky based on Henryk Grynberg's book Dědictví.

HAGGADAH – AN OPEN-ENDED STORY

Spring started a day early at the Jewish Museum in Prague this year! For the 20th of March, in association with the Embassy of the United States and the Embassy of the State of Israel, we put together a special program in which parents and their children could experience a lot of fun learning new things, meeting interesting guests and browsing through our collection of rare prints and manuscripts.

Our topic was the Passover Haggadah – a book that you may not know about but you will certainly enjoy. In just a few pages it covers the events recounted in the Book of Exodus that also became the subject of many a historical novel and Hollywood epic. Thanks to the tradition of recounting the story of the liberation of the Jews from Egypt, this slim pocket-sized volume has become one of the oldest continuously read stories in the world. In addition to its narrative of biblical events, this slim pocket-sized volume also contains a wealth of anecdotes and songs.

At this special event, two new widely acclaimed books were presented by their authors who each gave a talk. Marc Michael Epstein, Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies at Vassar College, NY, is the author of an extensive monograph on the most beautiful medieval Haggadot, published in 2011 by the Yale University Press. His work explores the beauty of some of the rarest illuminated Hebrew manuscripts, their narrative, images, and the stories behind their creation.

The highly renowned Israeli typographer Oded Ezer introduced his latest work, the New American Haggadah, a book for (inter)active reading, which was recently published by Little, Brown & Co. in New York. In his talk, he showed how the design of the book can influence how the text is read, understood and interpreted, and how it can influence and support the reader's perception. He also explained the meaning of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which according to ancient parables served as the basic elements for the creation of the world and which themselves can also make beautiful images.

In interactive workshops throughout the day, children had an opportunity to find out about the rich history of the Jewish calendar and the symbolism of the Hebrew alphabet. They embarked on the adventurous quest for the meaning of Hebrew letters, discovered the beauty and wisdom of traditional scriptures, as well as the rules for how they should be read. They also learned how to write their names in Hebrew script and how to utter simple sentences in Ivrit (modern Hebrew) – all under the guidance of experienced educators from the Jewish Museum in Prague.

Visitors could also browse the museum's digitized collection of Haggadot and talk to the curators of the exhibition And you shall tell your son..., which was on view at the museum in 2010.

Oded Ezer talking about

the New American Haggadah.

4

FROM THE JEWISH MUSEUM'S RESTORATION WORKSHOPS

The Jewish Museum's restoration workshops have recently prepared new textiles for installation in Prague's Old-New Synagogue (the Altneuschul). These have been designed by the acclaimed U.S. artist Mark Podwal, who is a frequent collaborator with the museum. The textiles, which include a Torah curtain, Torah mantles, covers for the Torah reading table and cantor's lectern, were dedicated to the synagogue on 15 March at an official ceremony attended by numerous guests. This is the first time in many decades that new textiles have been commissioned for the Old-New Synagogue – to honour God's name and to adorn his sanctuary, as generations of Jews have done for centuries in commemoration of major events in their lives and in tribute to the memory of their parents and grandparents.

Designed by Mark Podwal and manufactured by the renowned New York textile embroidery company Penn & Fletcher using a special computer program, the new textiles are embroidered in shimmering gold and silver thread on Brussels velvet.

Mark Podwal ended his speech for the dedication of the textiles at the synagogue with the following words: “A legend says: God showed Moses the Book of Adam, and told him, 'At the very first moment of Creation, I prepared one person for every task.' As a physician, I believe in science. As an artist I believe in legends. I would very much like to believe that my task, listed in the Book of Adam, was to design these textiles for this synagogue.”

New curtain in the Old-New Synagogue

with its designer Mark Podwal.

5

Felling of unhealthy trees in the Old Jewish Cemetery

Thirteen unhealthy trees, six of which were in danger of falling, were cut down in the Old Jewish Cemetery during the first two months of 2012. The condition of the trees in this cemetery is regularly monitored by a tree care company ('Safe Trees') which also keeps a record of the trees in a special tree monitoring programme. In certain cases, the Jewish Museum arranges for specialist consultants to undertake tree assessments but it is not always possible to detect all the potential risks. After a thorough investigation, the National Heritage Institute and the Prague 1 Environment Department gave approval for the tree felling.

It is really essential to cut down unhealthy trees, as demonstrated by an incident that occurred last summer in the Old Jewish Cemetery when part of a large acacia tree (weighing about 800 kg) suddenly broke off and fell to the ground. In addition, trees are pruned and weak branches are secured with special bindings as part of an annual treatment plan to promote tree health and safety. The tree protection treatment is supervised by a specialist firm (Ing. Lukáš Adámek) to prevent as much damage as possible.

There are currently 127 trees in the Old Jewish Cemetery, including saplings that have either self-seeded or have been planted. New trees are regularly planted in areas where the nearest tombstone is at least 70 cm away – this is to prevent the roots spreading into grave areas.

The next tree inspection will have to be carried out in mid-2012, as most of the trees, unfortunately, are not exactly in good condition. The deteriorating health of the trees is made worse by their age and local environmental factors.

OURS OR FOREIGN? Jews in the Czech Twentieth Century.

Last year (in Newsletter 1/2011) we mentioned a new joint project between the Jewish Museum and the Terezín Initiative Institute, which aims to prepare completely new educational materials for schools, bringing new perspectives on the twentieth-century history of the Jews in the Czech lands. With the exception of several insufficiently specific topics, little is taught about Jewish history in Czech schools, and this is in part because teachers lack suitable documentary materials and methodological guides.

We are pleased to inform you of the results of the first year of this project below:

Educational seminars for elementary and secondary school teachers, conceived as interactive workshops; so far, two have been held – in Luka (near Jihlava) and in Pardubice – at full capacity and to the evident satisfaction of those taking part. Each participant received a free DVD of the documentary A Ghetto Called Baluty, which was released with the help of this project. The first conference for teachers will be held in association with the Brno branch of the Jewish Museum's Department for Education and Culture on 12 May 2012.

Programmes for schools: two new programmes provided by the Jewish Museum's Department for Education and Culture. At the Lodž Ghetto Workshop pupils and students have the opportunity to study archive documents, photographs and survivor testimonies to find out about the history of the ghetto in Lodz and the fate of Jews who were deported there from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in October and November 1941. The other workshop, given the working title Refugees, focuses on the refugee policy crisis in Czechoslovakia in 1938.

One of the project's most important tasks is its direct involvement in educational activities at schools. It has arranged dozens of visits to Czech elementary and secondary schools where we have focused on tuition assistance and have developed long-term co-operation. In each region we have found at least two 'pilot schools' to contribute to an evaluation of the new teaching methods, and we are also seeking to build a network of partnership schools for which we can offer methodological materials and travelling exhibitions. Several exhibitions have already been successfully held. With the most active schools we have arranged to set up 'regional centres' as the Jewish Museum's main partners in the regions for hosting various events, including seminars and Q&As with Holocaust survivors.

Cutting down trees in the Old Jewish

Cemetery is a very difficult task.

Nothing more could be done

for this unhealthy tree.

6

A website and Facebook page have also been launched for the project (www.nasinebocizi.cz). The project goals have been presented at various conferences and seminars, for example at the Summer School of Modern History in Ostrava, the Terezín Memorial and Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. We have also entered into co-operation with the Brno-based Moravian Museum, producing an educational programme for schools as part of a new exhibition on the Jews of Brno.

NEWS FROM THE JEWISH MUSEUM'S MULTIMEDIA CENTRE

The USC Shoah Foundation Institute's Visual History Archive at the Jewish Museum in Prague

Since March 2012, the Jewish Museum's Multimedia Centre has had access to the USC Shoah Foundation Institute's collection of nearly 52,000 video interviews with Holocaust survivors and witnesses in 32 languages from 56 countries that were recorded in the 1990s. Visitors to the Jewish Museum now have a unique opportunity to study WWII era documents and books from around the world – all gathered in a single place.

The connection to the USC Shoah Foundation Institute's Visual History Archive has been mediated by the Charles University in Prague. It was at the Charles University Faculty of Mathematics and Physics that the Malach Visual History Centre was founded two years ago in connection with a research project focusing on the possibilities of speech recognition and multilingual information extraction (Multilingual Access to Large Spoken ArCHives).

Located on the ground floor of the museum's headquarters, the Jewish Museum Multimedia Centre (previously known as the Reference Centre) contains the museum's video and audio collection and provide access to its catalogues and databases, as well as basic study literature. You can also now buy books published by the Jewish Museum here.

Jewish Museum Multimedia Centre, U Staré školy 1, Prague 1Tel: 222 749 262, e-mail: library@jewishmuseum.cz Opening hours: Mon – Fri 9.30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Closed on public and Jewish holidays.

NEWS FROM THE DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE

On 20 March the Jewish Museum's Department for Education and Culture hosted the launch of the 9th annual literature, history and photography contest “Daniel”. This contest is intended for 14–18 year old school students and focuses on the Holocaust and various forms of intolerance. This year, it was held for the third time under the auspices of Cardinal Miloslav Vlk and was organized, as usual, by the Talent Centre of the National Institute of Children and Youth at the Czech Educational Ministry. This year's contest received 98 contributions (42 literary works, four history essays and 52 photographs), of which 16 (7 literary works, 3 history essays and six photographs) were awarded prizes.

The winner of the literature category for secondary school students, Karolína Frühbauerová, wrote the following reflections in her essay: “We didn't experience it. I didn't experience it. But I doubt that what our parents say is false. History can't repeat itself? Of course it can, in fact it can be even worse. Dear young ones, imagine what life was like during the war. Imagine what life was like in the concentration camps … and ask yourself the question: What if? What would you do? What would we do?”

The entire project received financial support from the Respect and Toleration association and the Cardinal Vlk Foundation. The winners of the Daniel contest receive

prizes from Cardinal Miloslav Vlk.

7

SUPPORT FOR THE JEWISH MUSEUM FROM EUROPEAN FUNDS

For the first time, the Jewish Museum has received major financial support from the European Social Fund via a successful project backed by Prague City Hall. By implementing a specially prepared educational programme, this project seeks to increase the competitiveness of a specific group from the Jewish Museum in Prague's collection department staff who are among employee groups that are disadvantaged in the labour market (due to age, maternity/paternity leave, etc.). The project will involve 17 members of the museum's collection department staff, who will have the opportunity both to enhance their general abilities and to acquire highly specialized skills (e.g. photograph restoration, microscopy, taking photographs under unfavourable conditions, etc.).

European Social Fund logo. Prague & EU: Investing in Your Future.

JEWISH MUSEUM'S SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

In January the Jewish Museum started a collaboration with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Members of the museum's Society of Friends can now receive a 20% discount on tickets for concerts given by the Prague Symphony Orchestra (for more on the orchestra and concert programme, see http://www.fok.cz/.

GALA EVENING AT THE SPANISH SYNAGOGUE

Holocaust Remembrance Day concert On 28 January, the Jewish Museum and the Jewish Community in Prague, in association with Professor Zuzana Růžičková, hosted the traditional gala concert at the Spanish Synagogue to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Israeli male choir Zimratya sang a selection of songs and Robert Hugo performed organ music by Mendelssohn and Antonín Matzner.

CONCERT FROM THE JEWISH INSPIRATION IN CLASSICAL MUSIC SERIES

One of four concerts in the EuroRadio concert season was held at the Spanish Synagogue in association with Czech Radio on 26 March. This series, which focuses on rarely performed music, was launched on the first Monday of March with a concert that was broadcast live from Jerusalem and ended on 26 March with a concert in the Spanish Synagogue in Prague that was broadcast live via thirteen national radio companies from the European Broadcasting Union in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

The concert programme was entitled Dreams and Prayers and featured compositions by Sheila Silver, Jan Dušek and Osvaldo Golijov, which were performed by the Berg Orchestra under the baton of Peter Vrábel with solos by soprano Irena Troupová, cellist Dominika Weiss Hošková and clarinettist Irvin Venyš.

Gala evening at the Spanish Synagogue

to mark International Holocaust

Remembrance Day.

8

YOM HA-SHOAH 2012

To mark Yom Ha-Shoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), the Terezín Initiative Institute and the Holocaust Victims Foundation held the annual memorial reading of the names of Shoah victims at Náměstí Míru (Peace Square) in Prague on 18 April (between 2 and 5 p.m.). The Jewish Museum is one of the partners involved in this commemorative event. Yom Ha-Shoah commemorates the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (19 April – 16 May 1943).

PROMINENT VISITS

February – delegation led by Ewa Kopacz, Speaker of the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish parliament)

Published by the Jewish Museum in Prague (founded in 1906),

U Staré školy 1, 110 01 Praha 1, IČO 60459263

www.jewishmuseum.cz

Bank account: 1042639, SWIFT CODE: COBACZPXXXX,

IBAN: CZ60 6200 0000 0000 1042 6398 (euro)

1042639, SWIFT CODE: COBACZPXXXX,

IBAN: CZ22 6200 0001 0700 1042 6398 (for all foreign currencies except the euro)

Commerzbank, Aktiengesellschaft, Jugoslávská 1, 120 21 Praha 2

When making a donation, please state the variable symbol (identification code)

1382002.

The Newsletter is quarterly. This issue was published on 15 April 2012,

MK ČR E16832

Editor: Barbora Patočková

Photos: D. Cabanová, M. Lička, S. Šimková, Zlatá Husa Gallery

Translation: Stephen Hattersley

Graphic Design: Jan Jiskra