January 2024 at the Gaon Museum in Vilna
Each month, the museum highlights certain objects from its collection. This month, they are books found on Jews killed in Kaunas during the Second World War. These are very old books, probably dating from the turn of the 17th century. They were first kept in the museum after the war, before being placed in the central archives, and finally returned to the museum in 1992 at the end of the Soviet era.
Exhibit of the month – Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History (jmuseum.lt)
28 January 2024 at the Cinemas Massimo in Turin
This screening of Marina Piperno and Luigi Faccini’s film is being organised to mark the International Day of Remembrance for Victims of the Holocaust. Based on Marina Piperno’s personal story, the film widens the focus and tackles the question in a general way. That of knowing what to do with these heavy suitcases inherited from history, in particular those of persecution during the war. The film shows images of 9-millimetre reels from Marina’s father’s filming at the time.
– Articoli in primo piano – – Torino Ebraica
On 28 January 2024
The CCLJ and La Maison de la Culture Juive are offering a themed walk to mark the International Day of Remembrance for Victims of the Holocaust. The walk will (re)discover the history of the Jewish refugees who settled in this working-class district of Brussels, close to the Gare du Midi and the legendary Union stadium, at the turn of the 20th century. They were very much present here until the 1960s.
Saint-Gilles à l’heure de la Guerre – CCLJ
10 April at the Dornbirn City Museum
In cooperation with the Jewish Museum Hohenems, this German film by Christoph Hubner from 2017 deals with how grandparents’ past affects lives and how to overcome this. Seven people, grandchildren of Nazis or their victims, testify. With sincerity and without pathos, with the aim of helping new generations deal with this kind of situation.
Nachlass | Jüdisches Museum Hohenems (jm-hohenems.at)
24 and 25 January 2024
On the occasion of this day organised by UK Jewish Film, the film My Father’s Secret will be shown to a variety of audiences, both schoolchildren and the general public, at several screenings. Director Jes Benstock will take part in a discussion following the screening, to talk to the audience about the work and the issues involved. He has worked on numerous films in the UK and abroad.
Holocaust Memorial Day 2024 – UK Jewish Film
10 March 2024 at the Jewish Museum Synagogue Manchester
Following the success of its previous concerts in 2022 for Synagogue Nights, the Noga Ritter Trio is returning to Manchester for the release of its new album. The album features songs in English and Hebrew, dealing with contemporary social issues as well as more intimate subjects.
Manchester Jewish Museum — Noga Ritter Trio (rescheduled)
From 5 to 7 April 2024 in Youlgrave, Derbyshire
This new annual festival brings together klezmer enthusiasts and professionals to share their enthusiasm for this music, its generosity and its sharing. The festival takes place in the beautiful village of Youlgrave, a place that combines inspiration from nature with a reappropriation of time.
KlezNorth | A festival of Klezmer music, dance and song
11 February 2024 at SOAS University of London
This second event organised by the Jewish Music Institute brings together specialists in this music from all over the world, as well as artists who will share their different approaches and studies throughout the day. The event will close with a concert by DJ Sharouh.
Yallah 2024 – Judeo-Arabic Music Conference – Jewish Music Institute (jmi.org.uk)
From 9 February to 26 May 2024 at the Galerie Eric F. Ross
This exhibition highlights the work of German-Jewish author Curt Bloch, written between August 1943 and April 1945 while in hiding in the Netherlands. His poems, written in Dutch and German, were collected together in a booklet, dealing with the war and the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime, but also with the attitude of the collaborators and the daily danger faced by the Jews, followed by the advance of the Allied troops leading to victory. In this work, he did not shy away from ridiculing the Nazi leaders. His poems are read and performed on stage by actors Marina Frenk, Richard Gonlag and Mathias Schäfer.
“My verses are like dynamite” | Jewish Museum Berlin (jmberlin.de)
From 25 January to 30 June 2024 at the former Kriegshaber synagogue
This exhibition, organised in partnership with Dagesh and the Augsburg Jewish Museum, presents the work of nine international Jewish artists. This event focuses on the theme of new perspectives in their work of a changing world. They invite visitors to ask themselves questions about their place in this societal upheaval and the link between the past and the future. The works on display are as varied in form (photo, video, sound, etc.) as they are in the artists’ individual perspectives.
TRANSITIONS. Jewish Perspectives on the Present – Jüdisches Museum Augsburg Schwaben (jmaugsburg.de)
Until 31 March 2024 at the Musée Zadkine
The museum is devoting a monographic exhibition to the great sculptor. Born in Ukraine and raised in Israel, she was one of a generation of refugee artists who settled in Paris in her youth, finding freedom and inspiration there. Fleeing during the war, she continued her work in Israel. This exhibition brings together the work of Chana Orloff and that of Ossip Zadkine.
3 February 2024 at the Maison de la culture yiddish
This reading-performance is based on a work by Debora Vogel, translated by Batia Baum and published in a bilingual edition in 2023. It is presented as part of the “Paris-Berlin, a link for the Yiddish diaspora” season. The poet Debora Vogel (1900-1942) was an important representative of Yiddish and Polish modernism, murdered in the Lwow ghetto. The readings will be given by Karolina Szymaniak and Talila. Music by Nicolas Dupin and Bastien Hartmann.
From 27 January to 13 May 2024 at the Musée National Marc Chagall
The museum’s collections were enriched in 2023, notably with the arrival of four rare works by the artist: The Mexican Rider in Red and his Violet Horse (1943), Ka Descent from the Cross on a Blue Background (1950), The Fiddler (1957) and The Chariot of Elijah (1970). There are currently almost 1,000 pieces preserved.
22 January 2024 at the Librairie Prado Paradis
This event will provide an opportunity to discover Murielle Szac’s novel “Tosca”, a book about the Resistance and the fight against anti-Semitism in 1944. Murielle Szac is an author, publisher and collection director, and is deeply committed to the mission of transmission.
10 March 2024 at the JEM Copernic Synagogue
This musical evening, presented by Pierre Réach, will feature Harlap’s Seven Preludes for piano. There will also be three Beethoven sonatas, including “Tempest” and “l’Appassionata”. It’s an evening that showcases musical variety in all its creations and expressions.
Grand Récital de piano annuel de Copernic – Judaïsme En Mouvement (judaismeenmouvement.org)
11 February 2024 at the Medem Centre
The Song of songs has inspired so many readings and interpretations throughout the ages. This talk by François Ardeven, Chairman of the Medem Centre’s Culture Committee, will attempt to answer the secrets and questions surrounding the text, which is based on Henri Meschonic’s translation of the Five Scrolls, published by Gallimard. But also on the Hebrew text and the midrash.
1 February 2024 at Hebraïca
In partnership with the Institut Universitaire d’Etudes Juives de Toulouse, cultural events are organised on a regular basis. These include a lecture by Isy Morgensztern on Rhenish Hasidism, the Languedoc and Spanish Cabala, mysticism and many other themes.
À la une | hebraica (hebraica-toulouse.com)
4 February 2024 at the Musée Albert Kahn
The theme of the 28th edition of this event is “sport and science”. There will be family workshops where children can discover film techniques by creating a flipbook using extracts from films about sport. There will also be a screening of the film “1,2,3 shoot! Sport in the Archives of the Planet”.
La Science se livre 2024 – Musée Albert Kahn (hauts-de-seine.fr)
28 January 2024 at the Espace des Cultures Juives in Grenoble
Author Judith Elmaleh will be on hand to talk about her novel “Une Reine”. The book is based on the story of her grandmother in Casablanca. The meeting will be accompanied by a brunch and pavlovas from the cookery workshop.
ECJ CCJ – Espace des Cultures Juives de Grenoble | Grenoble | Facebook
At the CHRD
This exhibition devoted to the great hero of the Resistance allows us to (re)discover the man through the eyes of those who knew him or studied him. These include friends and family, fellow Resistance members and even opponents. Numerous documents are used, ranging from his childhood, his professional career before the war and his involvement in the Resistance. Videos are also shown, with testimonies from a 1958 documentary, along with valuable interviews.
Jean Moulin, les voies de la liberté | CHRD | Musée d’histoire | Lyon dans la guerre, 1939-1945
From 22 January to 1 February 2024 in Grenoble and Lyon
The lack of understanding between French and Israeli Jews is legendary and has even inspired cult sketches in both countries. Marco Carmel’s excellent comedy “Paris Boutique” dramatises these differences through the story of a French tourist who arrives in Jerusalem, awkwardly guided by an Israeli woman between the Old City and the renewal of Mahane Yehouda, and above all between her personal problems and how to solve them. The Dia(s)porama Festival is also offering other films in Lyon and Grenoble: ‘Reckonings’, ‘The Art of silence’ and ‘El Amor en Su Lugar’.
Diasporama – Séances Archive – Diasporama
From 25 to 30 January in Montpellier and Toulouse
How can we avoid being overwhelmed by our past and deal with our silences? How can we continue to believe in humanity and its potential despite our own terrible experiences? What reparative measures need to be taken? These are some of the questions addressed by the films presented in Toulouse and Montpellier as part of the 4th edition of the Dia(s)porama Festival: “IMordecai”, “The Art of Silence” and “My Neighbor Adolf”.
Diasporama – Séances Archive – Diasporama
From 18 January to 4 February 2024 in Angers and Nantes
Can we laugh at everything and with everyone? These questions posed by comedian Pierre Desproges are not easy to answer. It is one of the oldest challenges of Jewish humour, which has known how to laugh at everything. The only condition for this to be effective is that the intention should be to uplift the audience and not to stoop to clichés. The film “Who’s Afraid of Jewish Humour?” presents some of the major figures in this art form, such as Lenny Bruce, Ephraim Kishon and Mel Brooks. And other movies such as “My Neighbour Adolf” and “El Amor en Su Lugar” go very far in confronting these questions. You’ll be able to find out more in Nantes and Angers as part of the Dia(s)porama Festival.
Diasporama – Séances Archive – Diasporama
From 22 January to 4 February 2024 in Nice, Marseille, Cannes and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
In Mel Brooks’ film “Silent Movie”, which as its name suggests is silent, Marcel Marceau utters the only word. This magnificent example of Jewish humour that turns all certainties upside down is also to be found in the fine selection of films presented in Provence at the 4th edition of the Dia(s)porama Festival. These include a documentary devoted to the famous Mime Marceau, “The Art of Silence”, but also “My Neighbour Adolf” about a survivor of the camps who fled to Argentina only to find himself with a more than unexpected neighbour, and “IMordecai” with the truculent Jewish character played by Judd Hirsch since his role in the series “Taxi”. This leads us to ask the question “Who’s afraid of Jewish humour?”, which the film of the same name presented as part of this festival attempts to answer.
Diasporama – Séances Archive – Diasporama
From 18 January to 4 February 2024 in Nancy and Strasbourg
Resistance can be expressed in an artistic manner, like the courageous desire to create theatrical works in the Warsaw Ghetto under siege by the Nazis. And to continue to speak and sing on stage, as shown in the film “El Amor en Su Lugar” by Rodrigo Cortes. Resistance can also be embodied in one of the world’s greatest mimes. Marcel Marceau’s artistic career and courage during the war are presented in “The Art of Silence” by Maurizius Staerkle Drux. Here are some of the fabulous films shown in Strasbourg and Nancy as part of the Dia(s)porama Festival.
Diasporama – Séances Archive – Diasporama
22 January and 5 February 2024 at Cinéma Le Village
The rollercoaster ride of Jewish themes in cinema is complex and complicated, especially when confronted with contemporary social and geopolitical situations. This is what the 4th edition of the Dia(s)porama Festival explores in its choice of films. The films presented in Neuilly-sur-Seine: “The Last of the Jews” by Noé Debré and “Paris Boutique” by Marco Carmel take us on a journey with the violinists to the rooftops of the imagination, oscillating between a bygone past and an attempt to survive the crumbling present.
From 22 January to 5 February 2024 at the Escurial and the Espace Rachi
Following the success of its previous editions, the Dia(s)porama Festival is back for a fourth season, taking place in all six corners of France. Several Parisian venues are taking part, offering a very wide variety of choices. At L’Escurial will be screened, “The Last of the Jews”, “Paris Boutique”, “IMordecai”, “The Forger”, “Little Town”, “My Neighbor Adolf” and “El Amor en su lugar”. At the Espace Rachi, spectators will be able to see “Shoshana”, “The Dybbuk”, “Reckonings”, “La Dalkavo Ora”, “The Art of Silence”, “Who’s Afraid of Jewish Humor”, “The Torn Letters” and “Marcus Klingberg, a Pure Spy”.
Diasporama – Séances Archive – Diasporama
Until 21 April 2024 at the mahJ
Thanks to Pierre de Girord’s donation of 400 photographs and documents to the mahJ, visitors will be able to appreciate the fascinating Jewish history of Greece’s mythical city. The works are all the more interesting in that they combine the golden age of Thessaloniki’s Jewish community with the beginnings of photography, as artists and ordinary enthusiasts seized on this new art form to share the adventures and glimpses of this vibrant city.
Salonique, « Jérusalem des Balkans », 1870-1920. | Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme (mahj.org)
Until 13 December 2023 at the National University Library in Strasbourg
David the warrior king and Solomon the man who built the Temple in Jerusalem. How have these two great kings of Israel, key figures in the Bible, been perceived over time? This is what this exhibition is all about, showing the extent to which they are present not only in artistic works but also in the collective imagination, having inspired artists, authors, politicians and popular culture, as can be seen in Florence, the Strasbourg cathedral, Ethiopia and many other places…
Sacres Rois ! David & Salomon a travers les ages : Exposition a Strasbourg (dna.fr)
Until 8 January 2024 at the Chagall Museum
This three-part exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Musée Chagall, created on the artist’s birthday, 7 July 1973, when it hosted the Biblical Message cycle. To mark the occasion, contemporary artists and writers share their readings of Chagall’s paintings, with a host of events organised on 7 July 2023 and continuing, as the museum has decided to extend this major event.