Articles are invited for a Special Issue of the journal, Eastern European Jewish Affairs, on the topic “New Jewish Museums in post-Communist Europe” edited by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett and Olga Gershenson.
Post-Communist Eastern Europe is experiencing a museum boom, and Jewish museums and Holocaust memorials are among them. The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow and Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw are prime examples of this trend, but there are many others. For decades, the subject of the Holocaust, and Jewish history in general, were largely off-limits in the Eastern bloc. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union and fall of the Berlin Wall, there is a revival of Jewish culture and institutions in Eastern Europe and growing interest in Jewish subjects on the part of non-Jews, paradoxically, in the near absence of Jews. New museums and memorials are part of this trend.
Some of these new museum projects are ambitious. They may be financed at a level of millions of dollars, from both private and public funds. They may be initiated and supported by local and international Jewish communities, as well as by local authorities. They often engage both local and international academics and exhibition designers. Their core exhibitions may present the full sweep of Jewish history in a given place, including the Holocaust and postwar period. They may start from a collection of objects or, in the newest and largest examples, create multimedia narrative exhibitions.
In light of these new developments, the editors invite submissions to this special issue on Jewish museums in post-Communist Europe that explore the place and meanings of such museums in Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Moldova, East Germany, and beyond.
To initiate submission, please send a proposal, consisting of title, abstract, and author’s bio to the editors at brayndlATgmail.com and at gershensonATjudnea.umass.edu Proposal must be received via email no later than March 30, 2014. Approved proposals will advance to the next stage and will be expected to be submitted as completed articles in January, 2015. Prospective authors are encouraged to contact the editors with questions about submissions.
Please follow the link for a list of possible topics and the complete CFP.