The History of Asian Jews (Exhibition)

Exist Dates

1989 May 5 - 1989

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

Exhibition. Opened May 5, 1989 and closed 1989. Located in the Gardner D. Stout Hall of Asian Peoples at the American Museum of Natural History. "The History of Asian Jews" a story spanning 25 centuries and covering 13 lands and portrayed the diversity of Asian Jewish life and focused on a historical grid that portrayed landmark events in Asian Jewish history

Summary

"The History of Asian Jews" a story spanning 25 centuries and covering 13 lands and portrayed the diversity of Asian Jewish life and focused on a historical grid that portrayed landmark events in Asian Jewish history. Represented on the grid were the regions in which Jews settled including Israel, Turkey, China, India, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Kurdistan, the Caucasus, Bukhara, and areas encompassing ancient Babylonia and modern-day Lebanon. Interspersed in the grid were Jewish ceremonial and folk art objects. In addition to the grid, video programs highlighted key aspects of Asian Jewish life in greater depth. The images in the video programs were drawn from archival collections at the National Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora in Tel Aviv and the Musee de L'Homme in Paris. Anna Cohn, director of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, was the consultant who developed the exhibit. Laurel Kendall, Associate Curator in the Department of Anthropology, was the curator for the exhibition. The exhibition, made possible by a grant from the Henry Kaufmann Foundation, was on view in the Hall of Asian Peoples of the American Museum of Natural History starting on May 5, 1989.

Individuals and institutions involved in the creation of the exhibition: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service; Anna Cohn; Laurel Kendall; AMNH Department of Anthropology.

Sources

American Museum of Natural History Press Release, April 17, 1989. Departmental Records, 101; American Museum of Natural History Library Archives.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

American Museum of Natural History. Gardner D. Stout Hall of Asian Peoples.
Location of exhibition.

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