Jewish Museum London Explained

Jewish Museum London
Map Type:United Kingdom London Camden
Coordinates:51.5369°N -0.1444°W
Location:Raymond Burton House
129–131 Albert Street
London, NW1
United Kingdom
Director:Sue Shave (acting)
Website:
Embed:yes
Designation1 Offname:Numbers 123–139 and attached railings
Designation1:Grade II
Designation1 Date:14 May 1974

The Jewish Museum London was a museum of British Jewish life, history and identity. The museum was situated in Camden Town in the London Borough of Camden, north London. It was a place for people of all faiths to explore Jewish history, culture, and heritage. The museum had a dedicated education team, with a programme for schools, community groups and families. Charles, Prince of Wales (later King Charles III) was a patron of the museum.[1]

The events, programmes and activities at the museum aimed to provoke questions, challenge prejudice, and encourage understanding.

The museum closed during the covid-19 pandemic in the UK and reopened for two days a week in July 2021, but visitor numbers and income did not recover.[2] The museum closed indefinitely on 30 July 2023, loaning collections to other heritage organisations,[3] intending to sell the building and move elsewhere taking up to five years to plan and finance the move.[4]

History

The museum, a registered charity, was founded in 1932 in the Jewish communal headquarters in Bloomsbury. In 1995, it moved to its current location in Camden Town. Until 2007 it had a sister museum in Finchley, operated by the same charitable trust and sited within the Sternberg Centre. The Camden branch reopened in 2010 after two years of major building and extension work.[5] [6] The £10 million renovation was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and private donations.

The museum was in a row of buildings in Albert Street that have been listed Grade II by Historic England.

Collections

The museum housed a major international-level collection of Jewish ceremonial art including the Lindo lamp, an early example of a British Hanukkah menorah.[7] The building included a gallery entitled Judaism: A Living Faith, displaying the museum's noted collection of Jewish ceremonial art. This collection had been awarded "designated" status by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in recognition of its outstanding national importance. The museum's Holocaust Gallery included items and filmed survivor testimony from Leon Greenman,[8] who was one of the few British subjects to be interned in the death camps section at Auschwitz.

The museum also had exhibitions recounting the history of Jewish life in England, supported by a diverse collection of objects. There were also collections of paintings, prints and drawings, and an archive of photographs, which consisted mainly of black and white photographs from the 1900s to the 1940s, along with militaria from the former Jewish Military Museum, which merged into it in January 2015.[9]

Exhibitions

There were two temporary exhibition spaces. The third floor housed major exhibitions, with smaller exhibitions in the temporary exhibition space on the ground floor.

Previous exhibitions

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Jewish charities attend Prince Charles' 70th birthday party at Buckingham Palace. Jewish News. 23 May 2018. 27 November 2018.
  2. News: Rose, David. London’s Jewish Museum to close indefinitely amid massive losses. The Jewish Chronicle. 1 June 2023. 1 June 2023.
  3. Web site: White . Harry . Jewish Museum London on the Move project awarded Heritage Fund grant . The Jewish Museum London. 9 April 2024.
  4. News: Ben-David, Daniel. End of an era! London’s Jewish Museum closes after 28 years in Camden. The Jewish Chronicle. 31 July 2023. 1 August 2023.
  5. Web site: London's Jewish Museum reopens after major facelift . Lawless . Jill . 17 March 2010 . 29 November 2018. USA Today.
  6. "Town firm wins top museum contract. Chad, 29 April 2009. Accessed 16 March 2022
  7. News: London's Jewish Museum preparing to buy 300-year-old hanukkia for new location . Sechan . Sarah . 21 July 2009 . . 29 November 2018.
  8. Web site: The Holocaust Gallery. Jewish Museum London. 29 November 2018. 23 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180723003706/http://www.jewishmuseum.org.uk/the-holocaust-new. dead.
  9. News: Freedland, Michael. Michael Freedland. The call went out: 'Enlist at once in any regiment' – The Jewish Military Museum in London tells a story that needed to be told. The Times. 4 September 2010. 16 July 2020.
  10. News: Jews Have Been Seen as 'All About the Benjamins' for 2,000 Years, New Exhibition Shows. Peled, Daniella . Haaretz. 20 March 2019. 18 July 2020.
  11. News: Next time I'm asked how antisemitism started, I'll say 'go to this exhibition' . Finkelstein . Daniel . Daniel Finkelstein. 20 March 2019 . . 18 November 2019.
  12. Web site: Charlotte Salomon: Life? or Theatre? . Jewish Museum London. 8 November 2019 - 1 March 2020. 1 June 2023.

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