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Lisa Silberstein (left) of the Oakland Museum with Lynette Allen, on the board of the Council of American Jewish Museums. Museum conference attendees view scale model of the 1915 PanPacific expo. Tweet 0 Share 0 Thursday, March 12, 2015 | return to: news & features, local National confab examines challenges, opportunities for Jewish museums by dan schifrin, j. correspondent Follow j. on and Just before Day 2 of this year’s annual conference for the Council of American Jewish Museums, some 200 attendees perused the galleries of the Magnes museum. What they saw at the newly reborn institution — now a part of U.C. Berkeley — showcased both traditional materials and highconcept ideas in the form of an exhibition on the future of memory. But as lively as the displays were, what caught the eye of the curators, educators and other museum professionals from around the country was a huge glass wall separating the public space from an archives and storage area. “Ninety percent of our collection is here on site, and as you can see, it’s in visible storage,” Magnes curator Francesco Spagnolo explained. As part of the museum’s emphasis on “opensourcing our collection … we are able to activate it for both researchers and the larger community.” This balance of preservation and openness epitomized the themes for the 2015 conference, “Open Source: Jewish Museums and Collaborative Culture.” Hosted by the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco and the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life in Berkeley, the 22nd annual conference capitalized on being held for the first time in the Bay Area, where technology, collaboration and experimentation are part of the region’s DNA. It was designed to emphasize new thinking among Jewish museums coming to terms with significant changes in Jewish demography, general museum visitorship and digital technology. The threeday conference began with a keynote from Nina Simon, whose 2010 book “The Participatory Museum” challenged cultural institutions to collaborate more deeply with their members, visitors and surrounding communities. Now director of the Museum of Art and History in Santa Cruz, Simon argued that museums should strive less to “present” art and culture than to “invite meaningful action at all levels.” Culture isn’t something you are given, “but something you do,” she said. The value of collaboration was echoed by Rabbi Noa Kushner, who spoke about starting The Kitchen, an innovative Jewish community in San Francisco, on similar principles. A kind of popup synagogue, The Kitchen serves the 20 and 30somethings that Jewish museums (and other Jewish institutions) are desperate to attract. Kushner’s advice? Focus less on identity than action, since “Who is Jewish?” is a much less interesting question than “Who wants to do Jewish?” A refrain throughout the conference was that the story of Jewish life, and its cast of characters, are changing rapidly. Avi Decter, a cofounder and current board chair of CAJM, suggested that Jewish museums — and, by extension, the larger Jewish community — resources Email a Friend Print Leave a comment Spread the Word Recent Articles by this Author FREE EXPRESS Ship Fri | Canon REALiS... $2,233.99 Fast Shipping, Lowest Prices, 1000's Reviews, Shop Now the Largest Selection of Phography, Video, Computers from Canon, Nikon, Apple, 5-Star Rated B&H Photo-Video-Audio 0 Recommend most popular rss feeds Daniel Boyarin — the Talmudist, feminist, antiZionist, onlyin Berkeley Orthodox Jew StandWithUs antiBDS conference set for Los Angeles San Francisco Hillel announces new executive director Empire Kosher sold to organic food giant Stanford professors take stand against divestment more popular articles > DONATE HOME ABOUT US CONTACT US ARCHIVES LINKS RESOURCE SHOP news & features arts columns opinions & letters lifecycles obits calendar enewsletter print subscription advertise search

JWeekly | National Confab Examines Challenges, Opportunities for Jewish Museums, by Dan Schifrin

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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

    Followj.on and

    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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