confluence SUMMER 2014
A newsletter of The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life
THE BANCROFT LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
Reflections on a Remarkable Transition Dear friends, I have had the great privilege of leading The Magnes through a remarkable transition. The past five years, in particular, have proved to be some of the most eventful since the museum’s founding over 50 years ago. We saw the transformation of the institution from the Judah L. Magnes Museum to The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, and its reorganization from a small community museum to an institution nested within the University of California, Berkeley. We saw the collection move from a crammed, outdated facility to a state-of-the art, modern, elegant building in downtown Berkeley. On a national and international level, The Magnes gives the University an important role in stewarding Jewish heritage. The forthcoming book The Jewish World: 100 Treasures of Art and Culture from The Magnes Collection establishes the collection as a world-class resource for researchers. We are building a robust, interdisciplinary program of scholarship and teaching, serving as model for other campuses nationwide. Now that The Magnes is fully settled in the new facility and the campus, it is time for me to pass the reigns to the University. I could not have been prouder of our accomplishments. My deep gratitude goes to the staff, volunteers, community leaders and University administration, who supported me in nurturing the museum as it was converted to a truly public asset. I look forward to watching this inimitable institution adapt, transform, and find yet new directions as the world turns. In the words of Winston Churchill, “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
With Warm Regards,
Alla Efimova JACQUES AND ESTHER REUTLINGER DIRECTOR www.magnes.org
Exhibition Highlights Global India: Kerala, Israel, Berkeley Representing one of the most comprehensive curatorial explorations in our institution’s history, the Global India exhibition illuminated the long, rich history of the Jewish community in Kerala, South India and its connections through time with Israel and Berkeley. On September 10, Chancellor Nicholas Dirks, in one of his earliest public appearances on campus, inaugurated the opening of the exhibition, an event that brought together scholars and community members who characterized the diversity of cultures in the Bay Area.
Ketubbah, Kochi, Kerala, India, 1887
The exhibition, curated by Francesco Spagnolo, showcased more than 100 artifacts—many never previously seen by the public—and was the result of a methodical investigation of the Collection where the curatorial staff was able to, for the first time, fully identify the circa 1500 items in the India collection of The Magnes: manuscripts, architectural fragments, textiles, photos. Prof. Barbara Johnson (Ithaca College) was the Visiting Scholar for this project. The exhibition culminated in a multi-disciplinary panel discussion that included scholars from UC Berkeley and Stanford that helped frame both the exhibition and the overall collection beyond the specific interest of Jewish studies. Covered by many online media outlets, Global India was, indeed, the perfect case study for how well The Magnes partners with UC Berkeley to contribute to its global scholarly outreach. From top to bottom: Performance by student a capella Dil Se; Shirley Kimmel and guest; Consul General of India N. Parthasarathi, Consul General of Israel Andy David and Chancellor Nicholas Dirks; Marian Scheuer Sofaer and Abraham Sofaer
Exhibition Highlights Saved by the Bay The Intellectual Migration from Fascist Europe to UC Berkeley With a blockbuster opening featuring Janet Napolitano, the new president of University of California, Saved by the Bay—on view until June 27, 2014—is one of the most intimate and revealing in Magnes history. Organized by Magnes curator Francesco Spagnolo, it represents the power of collaboration and engagement. It involved faculty born in Europe who were refugees from fascism; historians who are experts in this phenomenon (Professors Thomas Laqueur and Martin Jay); PhD candidates in history; and a team of 11 undergraduates, one of which, Elena Kempf, worked with Spagnolo on the exhibition itself.
An Undergraduate Curatorial Apprentice’s Perspective Working with the exhibition gave me an ummatched opportunity to apply knowledge gathered in Berkeley’s classrooms to a project that transcended the university, and yet stayed very close to it in terms of the topic and the people involved. In the process of molding the vast assemblage of documents into a structured exhibit, I learned how to make sense of a diverse set of sources—how to set them in communication with one another and think about what story they told. I came to appreciate the importance of little details: ever-so-easy to overlook and yet so decisive. As an aspiring historian, I am used to thinking in words, sentences, and paragraphs. To translate the history of refugee scholars at UC Berkeley into a three-dimensional exhibition space to be filled with photos and documents was a refreshing change, and I saw how it opened up the research to a wider (and perhaps different) audience. Since Saved By the Bay does not claim to provide a conclusive account of this group of immigrant scholars at UC Berkeley, the exhibit functions almost like a forum; a meeting space for further conversation about the topic for people from all walks of life. This was a wonderfully educational and empowering experience for me, and I can only hope that future students will also benefit from this innovative approach to teaching history. —Elena Kempf
Exhibition Highlights “With this exhibition, we move beyond the history of this specific migration, and into a broader discussion of the benefit of an open society and of immigration. It addresses history and the present.” –Francesco Spagnolo, Curator
The exhibition traces the paths of the Jewish academics who fled Fascist Europe in the 1930s and ‘40s and came to America, finding both refuge and a place to flourish as they pursued their careers. In return, their presence in Berkeley had a lasting and profound influence on the University, helping it rise from being a very good regional university to a world-class academic institution, while also cementing the University’s reputation for civic and political engagement. It’s a story that had never been told before, and it’s a story that is opening up a conversation that continues to inspire.
Opposite Page: Magnes Graduate Fellow Daniel Viragh with students from Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program This page top: Professor Thomas Laqueur, President Janet Napolitano, and Dean Carla Hesse Right: Ellen Hahn and Prefessor Emeritus Peter Selz
Exhibition Highlights Lands/Scapes: On Painting and Jewish Geography September-December, 2013 Spanning the twentieth century and following the paths of Jewish migration, the exhibition, the first to highlight landscape art from The Magnes, offered of a new look at the artists’ relationship with the sites and spaces they inhabited. Included in the exhibition were nearly thirty works by such artists as Max Liebermann, Jacob Nussbaum, Robert Falk, Moshe Mokady, and Mauricy Minkowsky.
Holy Land, California through June 27, 2014 Drawing from more than one thousand photographs, altered in the darkroom and combined with hand-drawn stencils, Albert Garvey, a photographer, printmaker, and graphic designer, then living in Fairfax, California, created a portfolio of views of contemporary Israel back in 1974. The current exhibition at The Magnes presents selections from the original 1974 project and revisits two sets of cultural conventions: those connected to the artistic practice of “imaging the Holy Land,” as well as the ways in which the State of Israel has commonly been portrayed since its founding in 1948.
Enlightening Events The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Award September, 2013 The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation honored The Magnes this year by awarding us their Immigrant Heritage Award for our “exemplary model of heritage research collections” and “remarkably diverse archives” that track the migration of Jews from around the world to the American West.
Diaspora Dinner December, 2013 Featuring South Asian cuisine from Kerala, the Diaspora Dinner held on December 10, 2013 was an extraordinary occasion to learn and to savor in the company of friends. It featured music by UC Berkeley’s Spic Makay, a traditional Indian ensemble, and a talk on the history of Kerala spice trade by Dr. Anna Spudich. We also celebrated the close relationship between The Magnes and the University with the presentation of the 2013-14 Fromer Scholarship to Aviv Nitsan, Comparative Literature, ‘14. The scholarship is given annually to an undergraduate student to encourage learning in Jewish culture and history and is named in honor of The Magnes founders, Seymour and Rebecca Fromer. We presented Aviv with a special medal produced by Mel Wacks, Director of Jewish American Hall of Fame in Los Angeles.
Aviv Nitsan, Fromer Scholar
Deborah Kirshman, Magnes Leadership Circle
Enlightening Events From India to Israel: A Multicultural Celebration April, 2014 The Magnes was thrilled to host this unique student event that brought together two diverse, yet deeply connected communities. The celebration started with a cultural showcase featuring some of UC Berkeley’s best talent: Kol Hadov, Jewish A Capella; Dil Se, South Asian A Capella; and Azaad, Hindi Film Dance Team. Following the performances, guests got to feast on Indian and Israeli foods and dance the rest of the night to modern music from both regions. Co-sponsored by Walter & Elise Haas Fund.
Donor Appreciation Brunch April, 2014 We were so happy to have a chance to honor members of The Magnes Leadership Circle and the Capital Campaign Donors for their role in making The Magnes a vibrant part of UC Berkeley and the Bay Area. In addition to a wonderful meal and accolades from The Magnes community, guests got a special “sneak peek” tour of the objects that will appear in the new collection catalog forthcoming from Skira Rizzoli in September. The event was marked by a once-in-a-lifetime photo of supporters in front of the bow-wrapped Magnes façade.
Teaching & Research A Gathering Place for Students Students from all disciplines converge at The Magnes. In the spring, students from Professor Andrea Sinn’s class on Fascism and Propaganda during the twelve years of the Third Reich visited the “Saved by The Bay” exhibition, attended a lecture by Francesco Spagnolo, and examined various items relating to antisemitism in Europe and America, including a collection of postcards from the Dreyfus affair. And all throughout the semester, students gathered to view exhibitions, sketch, or just ponder history in our halls.
The Magnes as the classroom As a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley, I had the honor of facilitating a Freshman/Sophomore seminar in Modern Jewish Thought. I centered classroom discussion on Jewish texts written during and after the period of Jewish “emancipation” in the colonial Caribbean and then in Europe in the late 18th century. Each week, participants examined an object from The Magnes in addition to literary and philosophical texts and then researched and composed “cultural biographies” of their objects over the course of the semester, which they delivered as oral presentations during a final installation. One student analyzed and translated into Romanian a handwritten prayer composed by the Chief Rabbi of Bucharest in honor of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, who became Romania’s first modern ruler in 1859. Another wrote about a pair of mother-of-pearl mikvah clogs from the late Ottoman Empire and related the object to a study of Jewish laws of ritual purity. At a large research university where many undergraduates sit in enormous lecture halls, the combination of small-seminar discussion and close collaboration with teachers and The Magnes staff provided an opportunity for a intellectual discovery and empowerment. As the German-Jewish philosopher Franz Rosenzweig wrote in his treatise The Builders (1923): “Teaching begins where the subject matter ceases to be subject matter and changes into inner power.” —Eli Rosenblatt
Publications The Jewish World: 100 Treasures of Art & Culture from the Magnes Collection Texts by Alla Efimova and Francesco Spagnolo 176 pages, 100 color photographs, Skira Rizzoli, 2014 Half a century after its founding, The Magnes is one largest Jewish collections in the world. And now the collection is being celebrated by a fully illustrated catalog of 100 selected treasures to be published by Skira Rizzoli in 2014. Lavish images, accompanied by brief essays, offer an unconventional look at the cultures of the Jews throughout the world. Inhabiting the curatorial responsibilities of The Magnes Collection at UC Berkeley in the 21st century is a thrilling adventure. It involves discovering and re-discovering hidden treasures on a quasi-daily basis, challenging the descriptive practices of Jewish culture and moving beyond the canonical focus on texts alone, engaging thriving communities of scholars on multidisciplinary themes, and creating and maintaining global networks of research across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Israel.
“Curating The Magnes Collection not only involves exploring the many overlapping, conflicting, and contradictory Jewish worlds, but also, in a way, sketching them, charting them, one object at a time, and providing ways for others to do so as well, across cultural, linguistic, and ideological divides. It is precisely the possibility to both find new directions and to experiment, and to do so collaboratively, that informs the intricate maps that underline The Jewish World.” —Francesco Spagnolo
Magnes Exhibitions & Programs 2013 - 2014
2013
Programs
Exhibitions
AUGUST
Lands/Scapes: On Painting and Jewish Geography September 10-December 13, 2013
Keepers of the Lost Ark: Behind the Scenes at The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life August 28
Case Study No. 4: Global India: Kerala, Israel, Berkeley September 10–June 27, 2014
SEPTEMBER American Jerusalem: Jews and the Making of San Francisco September 3 Special Tour of Global India: Kerala, Israel, Berkeley with Barbara Johnson September 11
Taubman Lecture: The Construction of Jewish Identity in the Second Temple Period September 11, 12 and 17
OCTOBER SFJFF Movie Night | Next Year in Bombay (Dirs. Mathias Mangin and Jonas Parienté) October 3 Open House: Parents and Alumni Weekend October 6 Sunday Streets Berkeley October 13
Magnes Exhibitions & Programs 2013 - 2014 Litquake: Thaisa Frank October 13
NOVEMBER
Partner Program: Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Panel Discussion on Global India: Kerala, Israel, Berkeley November 21
The Pianist of Willesden Lane October 25-December 8
DECEMBER
KlezCalifornia’s Yiddish Culture Festival October 26-27
SFJFF Movie Night: Orchestra of Exiles (Dir. Josh Aronson) December 5
2014 Exhibitions JANUARY Case Study No. 4: Global India: Kerala, Israel, Berkeley September 10, 2013–June 27, 2014 Saved by The Bay: The Intellectual Migration from Fascist Europe to UC Berkeley January 28–June 27, 2014 Holy Land, California: Prints by Albert Garvey January 28–June 27, 2014
Programs Opening Reception | Saved by The Bay: The Intellectual Migration from Fascist Europe to UC Berkeley January 29
FEBRUARY SFJFF Film Screening with special guest Anna Halprin February 27
MARCH Panel Discussion | Saved By The Bay March 13
Magnes Exhibitions & Programs 2013 - 2014 APRIL Darius Milhaud: The Berkeley Years | Performance by the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and students at UC Berkeley Department of Music April 2 Cal Day | Slow Art Day April 12 The Magnes hosts the 12th Annual City of Berkeley Holocaust Remembrance Day April 27
MAY SFJFF Film Screening: Portrait of Wally, with screenwriter/producer David D’Arcy May 1
Magnes Leadership Circle & Friends of The Magnes For more than half a century, The Magnes has provided access to unique resources that have allowed each generation to find its own story in the rich texts, vibrant images, and unique sounds of Jewish culture. Your support allows the collection to thrive as a treasured resource that advances research, scholarship, and community programs.
This year we launched The Magnes Leadership Circle, a special giving category for donors who generously provide The Magnes with annual gifts of $1,000 or more. Both the Leadership Circle and Friends of The Magnes receive exclusive privileges at each giving level; we’d love to discuss these with you personally.
T H E M AG N E S L E A D E R S H I P C I R C L E Visionary Circle
Curators
Frances L. Dinkelspiel | Gary D. Wayne
Anita L. Abramowitz B.S. ‘75 | Marc L. Abramowitz B.A. ‘74
Hellman Family Foundation David L Klein, Jr. Foundation
Joan Bieder
Koret Foundation
Rita Blitt | Irwin Blitt
Raymond Lifchez M.C.P. ‘72
Eva Bluestein
The Magnes Museum Foundation
Denah S. Bookstein
Taube Philanthropies
Donald Chaiken
Janet E. Traub B.A. ‘72
Diana J. Cohen C. Sing. ‘72 | William A. Falik
Partner’s Circle
Pamela R. Dinkelspiel B.A. ‘80 | Steven E. Dinkelspiel
David Berg Foundation Walter & Elise Haas Fund Leo B. Helzel M.B.A. ‘68, LL.M. ‘92, P ‘68 | Florence Helzel P ‘68 Fred Isaac
Director’s Circle Marian Scheuer Sofaer | Abraham Sofaer
We would be honored to have you join us at any level. You can use the enclosed reply card, GIVE ONLINE at www.magnes.org or send your donation to The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library University of California, 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94720-6000.
Mathilde Albers
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation
Marc L. Dollinger B.A. ‘86 | Marci Dollinger Michael L. Goldstein B.A. ‘67 Frances D. Green | William H. Green Catherine B. Hartshorn M.S.W. ‘73, D.S.W. ’78 | Richard M. Buxbaum LL.M. ‘53 Deborah Kirshman | David K. Kirshman
Collectors
Carole S. Krumland B.A. ‘67 | Ted C. Krumland B.S. ’66
Michael J. Baker J.D. ‘73 | Linda S. Baker
Barbara H. Levin | Sanford Koshkin
Debra Trubowitch Cohn B.A. ‘82 | Barry W. Cohn B.A. ‘82
Joan M. Mann B.A. ‘58 C.Mult. ’58 | Roger A. Mann B.A. ‘58
Jean Colen | Sanford Colen
Phyllis Moldaw
Herbert J. Friedman B.A. ‘59, J.D. ‘62 | Marianne Levee Friedman
Gladys Perez-Mendez | Victor Perez-Mendez
John & Marcia Goldman Foundation Lisa & Douglas Goldman Fund Adele M. Hayutin M.P.P. ‘75, Ph.D. ’84 Lawrence B. Helzel B.S. ‘68 | Rebekah S. Helzel Jan H. Kessler | Randall E. Kessler Mary Ann Tonkin | Bertram M. Tonkin* Victoria Bleiberg Zatkin B.A. ‘75 | Steven R. Zatkin B.A. ’67, M.A. ‘69
Barbara C. Rosenberg | Richard M. Rosenberg Sheila Sosnow | Richard Nagler Mary G. Swig B.A. ‘67 | Steven L. Swig Marjorie Traub | Barry Traub Arthur Weil Marilyn A. Weiss | Melvin J. Weiss Kathryn Mickle Werdegar B.A. ‘57, J.D. ’90 | David Werdegar M.P.H. ‘70 Judith Yudof | Mark G. Yudof Anonymous
Magnes Leadership Circle & Friends of The Magnes Magnes Staff
F R I E N D S O F T H E M AG N E S Conservators Sophie A. Hahn-Bjerkholt B.A. ‘83 | Eric H. Bjerkholt Jill Siegel Dodd J.D. ‘87 | Martin H. Dodd J.D. ‘82 Carolyn B. Dundes P Susan Epstein | William D. Epstein Frances Koshland Geballe B.A. ‘43, P ‘69 | Theodore H. Geballe B.S. ‘40, Ph.D. ‘50, P ‘69 Judy A. Greene B.A. ‘64 | Sheldon L. Greene Marsha Guggenheim | Ralph J. Guggenheim Steven D. Hallert J.D. ‘66 Phyllis D. Harford Ruth Heller | Alfred E. Heller P ‘79, ‘82 Kenneth Kofman B.A. ‘59, J.D. ‘62 George Leitmann Ph.D. ‘56, P ‘79 | Nancy L. Leitmann P ‘79 Katherine A. Morris B.A. ‘87 Carol Davis Norberg B.A. ‘46 | Mark A. Norberg Barbara Goor Rothblatt B.A. ‘59, M.B.A. ‘80, P ‘88, ‘88 | Sheldon Rothblatt B.A. ‘56, M.A. ‘59, Ph.D. ‘65, P ‘88, ‘88 Samantha Spencer | JeanManuel Nothias
Gloria Burke | Jerome S. Burke
Elizabeth Spander | Arthur Spander
Dana A. Corvin B.A. ‘71, C.Sing. ‘72 | Harris Weinberg
Lassie F. Ulman | Lloyd Ulman
Adele Kleinhaupt Corvin B.S. ‘43, P ‘71 Leland M. Douglas B.S. ‘61 | Celia Douglas Roger B. Eliassen
Vera Zatkin
Sandra P. Epstein M.A. ‘74, Ph.D. ‘79 | Edwin M. Epstein M.A. ‘66
Anonymous
Judith Espovich | Jay H. Espovich Ruth H. Fallenbaum B.A. ‘71 | Zeese Papanikolas Claudia Felson | Rick Felson Paul D. Fogel B.A. ‘71 | Ventura Y. Chalom
Selma Forkash | Paul E. Forkash Helena R. Foster Miriam J. Gauss B.A. ‘64 | Arthur B. Gauss Robin D. Gal M.Jour. ‘80, C.Sing. ‘93 | Yoav Gal Evelyn Graetz P ‘02 | Roberto D. Graetz P ‘02 Lorraine Honig Marion R. Kramer
Scholars
Richard H. Kulka J.D. ‘69 | Alice H. Kulka
Evelyn L. Apte B.A. ‘51, M.S.W. ‘56 | Robert Z. Apte B.A. ‘51, M.S.W. ‘53
Janet A. Martin B.A. ‘53, Cred. ‘54 David Mendel P ‘08 Bernard W. Nebenzahl B.S. ‘56 | Gail Jacobs Nebenzahl
Robin L. Berry B.A. ‘76 | William W. Ringer
Renee R. Ross B.S. ‘64 | Dennis E. Ross B.A. ‘57
Nancy Boas | Roger Boas
Dorothy Saxe | George B. Saxe
Maxine Brownstein
Jacques and Esther Reutlinger Director
Francesco Spagnolo
Curator of Collections
* Deceased Names listed are for gifts of $250+
Julie Franklin
Exhibitions Coordinator
Ashley Dawn Preparator
Leonore S. Foorman | Carl T. Foorman Jr. B.S. ‘41*
Anonymous
Judith F. Broude | Samuel G. Broude
Alla Efimova
Frederick T. Weiss* Irina Yefimov
Shirley G. Kimmel
Sydne Kogan Bortel M.S.W. ‘63 | Allan G. Bortel M.B.A. ‘65
Marilyn Y. Waldman | Murry J. Waldman
Beverly Eigner
Roselyne C. Swig P ‘77
Sue Ginsberg Bachman B.A. ‘60 | Ronald P. Bachman B.A. ‘59
Mel R. Wacks
2013 - 2014
Gary Handman Public Services Coordinator
Britta Kolb
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Jamie Henderson Events Coordinator
Arielle Tonkin Public Programs Coordinator
Lisbeth G. Schwab C.Sing. ‘68 | Douglas M. Schwab J.D. ‘68 Alan Sieroty Ivor Silver
Confluence, Summer 2014 Editor: Laura Scholes www.storyhousecreative.com Designer: Jeff Garrett
T H E
M AG N E S
C O L L E C T I O N
University of California
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OF JEWISH ART AND LIFE
2 1 2 1 Allston Way
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www.magnes.org
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