Search results for: Museums

Tel Aviv’s newly revamped Museum of the Jewish People attempts the ambitious undertaking of bringing almost 3,000 years of Jewish history and tradition under a single roof. The museum — formerly known as Beit Hatfutsot and newly branded as ANU, Hebrew for “We” — reopened to visitors this week after more than a decade of renovations costing $100 million. Its exhibition space has tripled, making it the largest Jewish museum in the world, officials say. Its old galleries with dioramas and models from when it first opened in 1978 have given way to cutting-edge exhibits with interactive touchscreens and original artwork.

The severe restrictions on public life in many countries following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic specifically affected Holocaust memorials and museums in all parts of the world, especially in Europe and in Israel. These measures posed a significant challenge, because contemporary forms of Holocaust commemoration are particularly based on the personal experience of presence at museums and historical sites. In contrast to the experience of distancing in face of the COVID-19 pandemic, establishing the presence of the past is thus a crucial element of contemporary Holocaust commemoration. This article explores the relationship between presence and absence, proximity and distance, guided commemoration and online engagement by critically analyzing digital activities of Holocaust memorials and museums in response to the pandemic. It argues that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Holocaust memorials began experimenting with the potential of social media for Holocaust memory. These experiments finally accepted the ongoing generational change and reacted to significant previous shifts in media consumption that were already affecting Holocaust commemoration.

MOFET International invites you to attend this free course which will help you create your own online museum to share with your students, colleagues and acquaintances. Museums are the repository of our cultural heritage and thus should become destinations to explore and learn scientific, historic and artistic themes. Students can feel and sense valuable artefacts and handmade objects that shape their lives. The main question is: How do we encourage our visitors to satisfy their curiosity in the museum? Experimental methods and their didactics are the core of this online course. We will see how all museums and heritage sites can be used as places of learning with the UNESCO Best Mobile Practice innovative technology – the Wandering Platform. The free course will begin on April 5 and will include seven synchronized meetings that will take place via the ZOOM™ platform. Notice: This is not a MOOC. As so, the number of participants is limited so hurry and sign up! Free registration ends on 02.04.2020.

The purpose of this study was to identify interpretive strategies used by museums in connecting visitors to Holocaust survivors through testimony. As the Holocaust recedes further into the past and Holocaust survivors get older, Holocaust museums must find new ways to stay relevant and connect visitors to survivor testimony. Studies have indicated that meeting a survivor and hearing their testimony firsthand can be the most salient part of visiting a Holocaust museum, and therefore understanding how museums use survivor testimony now can help develop ways to continue to use it in the future.