August 29, 2005 – May 14, 2006
Houses and Housings:
Portability in Jewish Faith and Culture
Is portability only a response to historic necessity or is it a fundamental quality of Jewish art? A multiplicity of art, Judaica and books from the Magnes collection demonstrate how Jewish faith and culture were transmitted across space and time through text and ceremony. Even those aspects of faith and culture which seem least capable of visual expression—ideas, beliefs, practices which require no ceremonial art for their performance, and secular culture independent of ritual—can be described and suggested in paintings and sculpture. These works of art thus become another vessel in which Jewish heritage can be carried forward into the future.
Houses and Housings is curated by Magnes Judaica curator Elayne Grossbard.
Press Release
Houses and Housings:
Portability in Jewish Faith and Culture
Is portability only a response to historic necessity or is it a fundamental quality of Jewish art? A multiplicity of art, Judaica and books from the Magnes collection demonstrate how Jewish faith and culture were transmitted across space and time through text and ceremony. Even those aspects of faith and culture which seem least capable of visual expression—ideas, beliefs, practices which require no ceremonial art for their performance, and secular culture independent of ritual—can be described and suggested in paintings and sculpture. These works of art thus become another vessel in which Jewish heritage can be carried forward into the future.
Houses and Housings is curated by Magnes Judaica curator Elayne Grossbard.
Press Release