Jewish museum Warsaw dilemmas

Posted on January 7, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

Creating a completely new museum comes with lots of opportunities (that the Museum for the history of Jews in Poland discovered well) and also with dilemma’s. From my visit to this museum I remember two of them.
1. How do you present your history when it has got possibly unfavourable elements? Especially in the light of a history where others have tried many times to present your people as bad people and that this had fatal consequences. The first image of the Jews in Poland happens to be one that connects them to trade of slaves. It was by the way for the first time for me that I learned that the word ‘slave’ is actually connected to the Slavic people, that they were the slaves of the Middle Ages.
The image shows Jews trading slaves and a bishop protesting against it; not because he was against slavery as such but because he was against the trade of Christians as slaves. Slavic people were already Christians by that time. Jews are recognizable with a 2-pointed hat. Could this image make actual prejudices increase? Is a scientific approach ‘this is the very first image and thus reality’ the correct one or should the museum be more careful and avoid a possibly bad image? The museum chose to show the 12nd century reality…
2. During war, the Polish were the only people to have an organizational structure to help Jews and this shows their heroic side. Opinions differ on the scale of effectiveness of the organisation. How small or large should that part of Polish resistance take in the presentation of the 2nd world war part of the museum? You can imagine the discussions…
Most probably there were many more decisions to take that were a dilemma. What I like about this museum is that the makers are not afraid of decision making and also not of discussing the decisions made afterwards.They are transparent and they are accountable; a great sign of modernity that one can only appreciate!

Two other posts about the Jewish Museum in Warsaw:
Jewish Museum Warsaw context
Jewish Museum Warsaw beauty

Jewish museum Warsaw beauty

Posted on December 31, 2014 by wordpressgrethe

28 October 2014 Warsaw could open the doors of the brandnew Museum of the History of Polish Jews and for certain, that museum is a beauty.
First of all it is a beauty from the point of view architecture. The size of the museum is enormous which offers opportunities for spectacular projects like: telling the story of the Jews coming to Poland 1000 years ago with moving images on glass walls; rebuilding an old wooden synagogue with all its special paintings; and redesigning a street in a Warsaw Jewish neighbourhood in the 19th/20th century with all its cultural and political activities, see these 3 pictures for an impression.

Apart from the special projects you can find interactive expositions for all centuries (I loved the medieval ones), and learn a lot about Polish history in general, too. The way the partition of Poland among other countries in the 18th/19th century was symbolised by a big and empty throne, overlooked by foreign rulers is impressive. Of course many people like to have their picture taken at the throne so it is never empty for a long time. The museum allows this kind of jokes and activities which is very nice.
This is a museum that deserves your time, wandering from one room to another through 10 centuries of history. It is different from other museums: it is an impression, not an explanation. It is an atmosphere and a way to live the lifes the Jews in Poland lived since the Middle Ages. If you visit Warsaw, remember to go there!

My other posts about the Jewish Museum in Warsaw:
Jewish Museum Warsaw Context
Jewish Museum Warsaw Dilemmas

Warsaw Christmas lights (make the world a better place 3)

Posted on December 30, 2014 by wordpressgrethe

Warsaw Christmas lights make the world a better place. Some cities are good at special Chrismas lightning, some are less good. Amsterdam for example is not so good, not very creative in Christmas street lightning, but they also have the Amsterdam Light Festival (which is not the ordinary street lightning but specific enlightened art objects) and that is rather spectacular. Warsaw in Poland has very good designers for Christmas lights; look at the beautiful pictures. It gives class and style to the city and makes it a real joy to walk around:

What amused me in Warsaw is that they also have this:
Some wouldn’t call it class or style but the Polish citizens probably do. At least Warsaw is not afraid to combine these styles in the same street. And the children are happy with it!

Two other blogs in the theme ‘make the world a better place’
Lisbon pavements
Lisbon walking

Vlinderado: creating your dream (2)

Posted on August 18, 2014 by wordpressgrethe

Vlinderado is an entrepreneurs’ dream, and it is beautifull: www.vlinderado.nl . It started with the cultivation of the Anthurium plant in special variations in a place that most of the readers of this blog never heard about I guess: Waarland, a small village to the north of Alkmaar or for the non-Dutch readers: 40 miles north of Amsterdam. As a hobby, bouquets were made with the different species of Anthurium; and then the bouquets became an important part of the business itself. Isn’t the best business the business that starts because it has the love of our hearts and the focus of our minds? It is interesting, yet inspiring to see how businesses develop in the hands of passionate people.
And then the next step was made, another entrepreneur’s dream was realised: Vlinderado, a garden full of butterflies. It is guaranteed that you see many, very beautiful varieties. Visitors come from different countries, all tourists suddenly discover where the village of Waarland is. Go there too and enjoy!

Entrepreneurs creating their dream make us happy because we can enjoy what they create. They also inspire us to do the same: to make our own dreams come true!

Other blogs about creating your dream:
Efteling: creating your dream

Lisbon pavements (make the world a better place 2)

Posted on February 28, 2014 by wordpressgrethe

Lisbon pavements.
Wherever you go in Lisbon; beautiful pavements are all around or should I say: all under your feet! It is a joy to walk in this city. They really make the world a better place. Still, many houses are neglected, old and falling apart. But people are working hard, renovating, rebuilding, all that is needed to make the houses – many of them monuments – look as beautiful as the pavements are. Then this city will be one big impressive treasure of different, yet unique styles. Lisbon has class and history, it shows in great refinement of details and in the gentle manners of its citizens. What a pleasure to be here 🙂

Read other blogs in the theme ‘make the world a better place’
Lisbon walking
Warsaw Christmas lights

Lisbon walking (make the world a better place 1)

Posted on February 27, 2014 by wordpressgrethe

Lisbon walking.

Often, the idea to make the world a better place to live in, makes us think of great and revolutionary ideas. What I like about Lisbon is that they make the world a better place just by adding high quality details into daily life.
I don’t know where you live, but I guess the pavement in your city or village is just an ordinary thing; a bunch of stones, maybe low, maybe high quality stone but nevertheless: just stones. It does not really add to the quality of your life.Lisbon is different. The Portuguese understand that quality of life is experienced precisely through daily details like the pavement we walk on. Look at the pictures: aren’t they adorable? It is a joy to walk there! And it is clear that these pavements were made by craftsmen who really enjoyed to deliver a piece of art to the many customers they would have after finishing their job; thousands of passengers feel better just by trotting on the paths they laid. Thanks to all to visionaries to improve daily life!

Read other blogs in the theme ‘make the world a better place’
Lisbon pavements
Warsaw Christmas lights

Mikvé Israel-Immanuel synagogue: religious pearl in orange-loving Willemstad

Posted on May 18, 2013 by wordpressgrethe

The Mikvé Israel-Immanuel synagogue is a real beauty in the heart of Willemstad, Curacao. It was dedicated in 1752; by then a Jewish (sephardic) community already existed for a century. They were invited to go to Curacao by the House of Orange when being oppressed by Spanish-Portuguese leadership at the time, as a small exhibition in the synagogue museum shows. The exposition is really ‘orange’, here’s a fanclub to be found. Anyway, all of Curacao is fond of the Royal House, that is clear. One picture especially is found on the door of every shop in town (available at www.koninklijkhuis.nl) and also in this museum, apparently the favourite picture to download here:

I didn’t see it in the Netherlands but here it is everywhere!
The synagogue uses the opportunity of King Willem-Alexander being inaugurated to thank the House of Orange for the liberty the Jews could experience at Curacao, and they welcome him as King. Every visitor gets a book marker in remembrance.

It is a wake up call for everybody thinking that liberty is there for anyone; it is not, and don’t take it for granted because it is not just free…
I asked some questions to the person responsible of the museum and that shows that the Caribbean island Curacao has been more free for the Sephardic Jews than the Netherlands were and are. In Willemstad there are no religious clashes: religious leaders meet and celebrate each others holy days, people respect each others religions. The atmosphere is relaxed, this is what every European notices when entering the synagogue; safety measures are very low compared to European synagogues, I was surprised to enter so ‘easily’.
The synagogue itself is of particular beauty: the silence, the architecture, the colours, the sand on the floor full of symbolism… This is a place for worship and silence!
I was surprised to find an organ in the synagogue and asked questions about that too. It appears in the 19th century the orthodox community had discussions over reform; quite some members left the community and to do ‘something’, the synagogue leadership decided to introduce the organ. One century later the discussions ended up in making the synagogue liberal instead of orthodox and the organ stayed. The synagogue is alive and a center for an influential community that has always played and still plays an important role in the development of Curacao.
Worth a visit! Not just the synagogue, notice the unique gravestones at the entrance of the museum; you haven’t seen a thing like this before! Art or history, I don’t know, but if I hadn’t been with a group, I could have spent my afternoon there just for the stones – masterpieces of human expression in religion!

Latvia museum: cultural exchange without words?!

Posted on February 21, 2013 by wordpressgrethe

Latvia Museum

Latvia has particular archeaological beauties but the presentation of them could be better. For example, in the national museum in Riga all signs are in the Latvian language only. How many people in the world speak Latvian – and especially, how many tourists? It’s a bit weird to walk around in a museum with fantastic ancient pieces and no explanation at all. I speak six languages but that was not enough to understand what I was looking at; I deeply regret that because as shown above there are some masterpieces in the museum – just haven’t got a clue what they are…
The entrance of the museum is also intriguing, starting with a mysterious painting above a coffin with a real old skeleton in it:
It attracts immediate attention, but the scenery remains a secret. Is someone mourning or did he just kill someone? The Latvian national museum proves that language is an essential tool in the 21st century. If we want to know and understand each others culture, showing our historic items is not enough. Neither are intuition or imagination – those strongly add to our quality of life, but not to understanding reality. Language, words that can be interpreted are essential in intercultural exchange.
Still, I enjoyed the Latvian ancient objects and recommend a museum visit to everyone!

Another blog about museums: Who tells your history? And other questions
Or this one: Museum of the history of Cypriot coinage
Or this one: Vesunna Museum in Périgueux

Who tells your history? and other questions

Posted on August 26, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

“Who tells your history?”, says another intruiging exhibition in the Stockholm National Historical Museum / Historiska Museet (http://www.historiska.se ). I don’t know what musea are like in your country. My experience is that they are usually knowledgeable on the subject they talk about and also a bit arrogant: they are the experts, the way they present things is right. The Stockholm National Historical Museum is a pleasant surprise, unique in its kind. Here is a museum that questions its own assumptions.
For example the way an archaeologist looks at a prehistoric grave is not just defined by ‘objective’ knowledge but also by his concept of the world he knows. So when he tries to find out whether a prehistoric grave belongs to a man or a woman, he might follow rules like: ‘ah this is a needle, so it was a woman’ and ‘ah this is a weapon, so it was a man’. How can we be sure that this is prehistoric reality and not the archaeologist’s concept of the world, projected on prehistoric times? We can’t, the Stockholm National Historical Museum simply says. This museum does something more courageous than I even saw a museum do: contest its own authority, expertise and knowledge. Isn’t that a great example for the 21st century where certainties have diminished anyway!
It is not just a non-issue that they are talking about, as you can read in a previous blog of my hand, april 2011: https://grethevangeffen.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/gay-caveman-in-czech-republic/
The Stockholm National Historic Museum makes this matter personal (see the photograph above). Many people define their identity by the (national) history; be it viking, be it VOC mentality, be it slavery, be it the Ottoman empire. But as the museum says, it matters who defined that history with what concept. This museum questions the possibility to define your identity through history, as it might be a construct rather than a truth or reality. I loved it – I found it very intriguing. If you prefer questions to answers, don’t forget to pass by this museum when you are in Stockholm. Enjoy!

Another blog about this museum: Vikings, did they really exist?

Another museum that you might like: Heimatmuseum Borkum: variety, wealth, surprise

Vikings: did they really exist?

Posted on August 21, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

“The Vikings is a created identity that everybody uses for its own purposes”, says an intruiging exhibition in the Stockholm National Historical Museum / Historiska Museet (http://www.historiska.se ). They have a complete collection of every possible antique Viking asset, but they also contest the very existence of a Viking identity and I have to say, they do that quite convincingly. It really made me smile.

They explain that in 1864 Germany attacked Denmark and Denmark lost Southern Jutland. So the Nordic countries felt threatened. Their reaction was to create the Viking myth so that others would feel frightened to attack them. Ain’t that a marvellous story!
Apparently the creation of the myth was successful so it became a habit. When universal male voting rights were introduced in 1910, the Vikings served as example: ‘all free men had a vote in the Viking time’. During the second World War, the Germans used Viking dresses and symbols to convince Norvegian men to join them, as if the Vikings were some kind of prehistoric SS-men. Then after the war, everybody was longing for peace so the peaceful side of Vikings as peasants was emphasized.

When Sweden was discussing EU-membership in the years ’80 and ’90, the Viking identity was presented in favour of EU-membership expressing how actively they were trading in many places in Europe. And isn’t the EU about trade most of all!
And now the most funny part comes. Actually gender and diversity have become an important theme in life. So what happens to the Viking identity? In the presentation of Viking history, the prominent place of women in Viking society is shown. And the Vikings have now become people who were very open for other cultures and ideas.

So the Viking identity can serve many goals. Applause for a Historical Museum that is splendid in its normal exhibition of historical artefacts and in the meantime so creative in the reflections about the interpretation of what they exhibit. Very worth a visit!

Another blog about this museum: Who tells your history?

Another blog about Stockholm; Diversity in hotels, it exists in Stockholm!

Maybe you like to read also about this museum: Archaeological museum Haarlem

Majete Wildlife Reserve in Malawi: unknown beauty

Posted on July 29, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

In Majete Wildlife Reserve an enthusiast and very friendly staff works hard to turn this unique spot into a place more frequented by tourists. Malawi has many beautiful places but tourists are few. In Majete, only several thousands of visitors pass by in a year time: many of them locals, or staff of international projects in Malawi. It is good that these people spend time here, and it will be better if also tourists discover this place.
Wildlife is abundant. Among the animals to be seen in this reserve are elephants, buffalos, gudus, impalas, nyalas, warthogs, hippos, crocodiles. Rhinos and leopards also live here but usually don’t show themselves. Moreover the reserve is great for birdlovers and treelovers and from tomorrow lions will be re-introduced. Like some other animals, poachers hunted lions in the ’90s until extinction. But the balance is coming back and will be well protected by dedicated guards.
A visit to this reserve costs you now (maybe more in the future) 14,29 euro! Combine it with the nearby Nyala parc (entrance fee 1,86 euro) to see a great bunch of giraffes, many more nyalas and monkeys and unique ‘fever trees’ and you lived a great special day. One of the best ways to help a country is to spend your money to things you like to do there and enjoy them. So far, extra facilities like transport to the parcs or restaurants are scarce but with the venue of more tourists, development will be strongly encouraged…

Other blogs you might like:
Mulanji Massif in Malawi
Malawi Fever Tree
Millenium Village Southern Malawi

Istanbul: mysterious tickets after Süleymaniye Mosque donation

Posted on March 2, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

Süleymaniye Mosque

On leaving the beautiful Süleymaniye Mosque (also known as the Blue Mosque) I gave a donation to a guy sitting at the exit of the Mosque with a sign ‘donations for the Mosque’. As the entrance was free and usually the maintenance of this kind of buildings is enormous in costs, it seemed reasonable to have some contribution. I gave money and got a few blue tickets in return for that. I looked at them and thought, why do I get this kind of tickets? I gave a donation, but what is this for?
As my brains couldn’t find a solution, I started to think the Dutch way. This must be a proof for tax administration that a donation was made, I thought. In the Netherlands this exists; for income that is spent in gifts to good aims, citizens don’t need to pay taxes. But you must be able to proof that you gave away that money. I suggested the Turks might have the same system and that the tickets I got at the Süleymaniye Mosque served to prove to Turkish taxes that this money was really spent as a gift. But I also know that perspectives can be coloured too much by national perspective. The reason why I got the tickets could be completely different.
So in the restaurant, close to Süleymaniye, where we had dinner after visiting the Mosque, I showed my newly acquired tickets to the staff and asked them for the meaning of them. The staff was very surprised about it: ‘we have never seen these tickets before’. They started to question me ‘the Mosque is free to visit, why did you give them money?’. I tried to explain to them the idea, or should I say idealism, of donations but my table company destroyed it all by saying ‘she wanted to feel good about herself’, making everybody burst out in laughter as if I were the kind of fool that was hardly seen in this part of Istanbul.
The restaurant staff explained to me ‘the government takes care of the Mosque, they don’t need your money’. Hey, I don’t give up that easily so I responded in an utmost surprised way ‘ah, I thought Turkey has a separation of state and religion’. ‘Well yes’, they replied, ‘the state doesn’t pay any money but local government does, the city of Istanbul is taking care of the Mosque’. I thought that the separation of state and religion also involved local government as well as national government but they thought that local was completely different from national and showed surprise that the City of Amsterdam is not giving money to churches or mosques ‘Istanbul is very social but Amsterdam is not’.
Soon enough, we started to talk Turkish instead of English and we jumped from the way Christians were treated in the South-East of Turkey to the way Muslems were treated in Greece and Bulgaria. I got a bit upset and so did they, and they had the superiority of language, meaningful in situations like the moment where I said that the monasteries in the North (güney) had a hard time under Turkish government when they declared there were no monasteries in the North – like I usually do, I mixed the words South and North (kuzey versus güney); a problem of mastering a language that weakened my arguments because they wouldn’t notice that I was not telling an ‘untruth’ but making a language mistake.
We didn’t really find a solution for Muslems in Greece and Bulgaria or for Christians in South East Turkey but we had a drink together to close the discussion. The only problem that lasts now is that my question about the tickets was left unanswered: why does a tourist who gives a donation to the Süleymaniye Mosque get tickets showing the period, the amount and the purpose of the donation? If you, reader, know the answer, please send me a message because I really like to know after all…

Other blogs you might like:
Istanbul and souvenirs with a religious component
Agios Nikolaos
Istanbul street cats

Grethe van Geffen

culture and diversity

Category Archives: Museums and heritage