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Coverage of the annual conference of the Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM), co-hosted by The Magnes and the Contemporary Jewish Museums, in JWeekly (3.13.2015).Retrieved from http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/74141/national-confab-examines-challenges-opportunities-for-jewish-museums/More about the programs of The Magnes during the CAJM Conference 2015 at http://bit.ly/gourmetghettos
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LisaSilberstein(left)oftheOaklandMuseumwithLynetteAllen,ontheboardoftheCouncilofAmericanJewishMuseums.
Museumconferenceattendeesviewscalemodelofthe1915PanPacificexpo.
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Thursday,March12,2015|returnto:news&features,localNationalconfabexamineschallenges,opportunitiesforJewishmuseumsbydanschifrin,j.correspondent
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JustbeforeDay2ofthisyearsannualconferencefortheCouncilofAmericanJewishMuseums,some200attendeesperusedthegalleriesoftheMagnesmuseum.WhattheysawatthenewlyreborninstitutionnowapartofU.C.Berkeleyshowcasedbothtraditionalmaterialsandhighconceptideasintheformofanexhibitiononthefutureofmemory.
Butaslivelyasthedisplayswere,whatcaughttheeyeofthecurators,educatorsandothermuseumprofessionalsfromaroundthecountrywasahugeglasswallseparatingthepublicspacefromanarchivesandstoragearea.
Ninetypercentofourcollectionishereonsite,andasyoucansee,itsinvisiblestorage,MagnescuratorFrancescoSpagnoloexplained.Aspartofthemuseumsemphasisonopensourcingourcollectionweareabletoactivateitforbothresearchersandthelargercommunity.
Thisbalanceofpreservationandopennessepitomizedthethemesforthe2015conference,OpenSource:JewishMuseumsandCollaborativeCulture.
HostedbytheContemporaryJewishMuseuminSanFranciscoandtheMagnesCollectionofJewishArtandLifeinBerkeley,the22ndannualconferencecapitalizedonbeingheldforthefirsttimeintheBayArea,wheretechnology,collaborationandexperimentationarepartoftheregionsDNA.
ItwasdesignedtoemphasizenewthinkingamongJewishmuseumscomingtotermswithsignificantchangesinJewishdemography,generalmuseumvisitorshipanddigitaltechnology.
ThethreedayconferencebeganwithakeynotefromNinaSimon,whose2010bookTheParticipatoryMuseumchallengedculturalinstitutionstocollaboratemoredeeplywiththeirmembers,visitorsandsurroundingcommunities.NowdirectoroftheMuseumofArtandHistoryinSantaCruz,Simonarguedthatmuseumsshouldstrivelesstopresentartandculturethantoinvitemeaningfulactionatalllevels.
Cultureisntsomethingyouaregiven,butsomethingyoudo,shesaid.
ThevalueofcollaborationwasechoedbyRabbiNoaKushner,whospokeaboutstartingTheKitchen,aninnovativeJewishcommunityinSanFrancisco,onsimilarprinciples.Akindofpopupsynagogue,TheKitchenservesthe20and30somethingsthatJewishmuseums(andotherJewishinstitutions)aredesperatetoattract.
Kushnersadvice?Focuslessonidentitythanaction,sinceWhoisJewish?isamuchlessinterestingquestionthanWhowantstodoJewish?
ArefrainthroughouttheconferencewasthatthestoryofJewishlife,anditscastofcharacters,arechangingrapidly.
AviDecter,acofounderandcurrentboardchairofCAJM,suggestedthatJewishmuseumsand,byextension,thelargerJewishcommunity
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havebeenboundbyamasternarrative.Now,however,thereisagrowingdiversityofpeople[affiliatedwithJewishlife]andagrowingneedfordifferentnarratives.
Museums,hesaid,wouldbewisetolistentotheiraudiencesandletthemhelpusunderstandwhichofthesenarrativesisworking.
Additionally,peoplespokeaboutmuseumshavingthecapacitytoofferauniquelytransformativespaceforeducationandcommunity.
NewYorkUniversityprofessorBarbaraKirshenblattGimblett,theleadscholarfortheMuseumoftheHistoryofPolishJews,spokeviaSkypefromWarsaw.Greatmuseumsareagentsoftransformation,sheexplained,notingthat
PolandsnewmuseumhasthecapacitytotellthestoryofJewishlifeinawaythatnootherPolishcivicinstitutioncould.
LoriStarr,directoroftheContemporaryJewishMuseum,explainedthatherSanFranciscomuseumspotentialfortransformationtakesplaceinthewayweengagewithvisitorswherevertheyare,andinwhateverframeofmindtheybringwiththem.
Designedwithoutapermanentcollection,theCJMwascreatedtobeflexibleandresponsive,allowingforamaximumofconversation,collaborationandstorytelling,shesaid.
Thequestionofhowmuseumsandvisitorsshouldusetechnologywasacommontopicofconversation.TimothyFrilingos,directorofexhibitionsattheWilliamBremanJewishHeritageMuseuminAtlanta,saidthatwhenadocentgivesatourtohighschoolstudents,thefirstthingheorshemightsayisputawayyourphone.
Butforteensandmillennials,willbeingaskedtoputawaytheirtechnologypreventthemfromcomingback?
KeirWinesmith,headofWebandDigitalPlatformsattheSanFranciscoMuseumofModernArt,triedtoallythisanxietybyaskingpeopletofocusontheirlargereducationalgoals.
Ultimatelythestoriesyoutellaremoreimportantthanthetechnologyitself,shesaid.Imofteninthestrangepositionofarguingagainstworkingwithdigital.Sometimesthebestsolutiontoacomplicatedmuseumproblemisjustasign.
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