arts & entertainment

Jewish Museums/

aDaum

Council of American Jewish Museums
holds its annual conference amid the
diversity of Detroit's cultural landmarks.

Suzanne Chessler

Contributing Writer

M

embers of the Council of
American Jewish Museums
(CAJM) convene each February
to discuss mutual interests and the devel-
opment of new ideas.

Left: Empty Chairs, an installation
by Linda Soberman, features

miniature steel chairs that cascade

from the ceiling, swinging and
hanging tenuously by a thin string

and serving as a metaphor for the
Six Million. It is part of "Memory

Lingers," an exhibit exploring
themes of memory and identity

that Soberman developed with Gail
Rosenbloom Kaplan, on view at the

JCC in West Bloomfield during the

CAJM conference.

When they meet in Michigan, Feb.
26-28, those discussions will introduce
them to local museums and administra-
tors with other ethnic and subject orienta-
tions.
Some 100 members from across the
country will participate in the annual
conference with this year's theme being
"Place and Purpose: Jewish Museums and
Community Renewal." Their tour schedule
will include visits to the Arab American
National Museum and the Charles H.
Wright Museum of African American
History among other cultural centers.
"This will be one of our most robust
conferences:' says Judith Margles, director
of the Oregon Jewish Museum, board chair-
man of the council and chair of a session
on "The Future of New Jewish Culture'
"We always try to incorporate the com-
plexities of the communities in which
conferences are held, and we learn from

CAJM on page 41

Ifih@ N owG

HMC exhibit explores intersection of
Jewish heritage, community migration.

Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer

W bile the Council of American
Jewish Museums (CAJM)
focuses on the impact of eth-
nic artifacts and the places where they're
displayed, a group of artists has been
focusing on displaying works that capture

places planned as synagogues.
"Silent Witnesses: Migration Stories
Through Synagogues Transformed,
Rebuilt or Abandoned" will be on
view Feb. 15-April 13 at the Holocaust
Memorial Center in Farmington Hills.
The exhibit is one of two developed to
go along with the CAJM conference.
The second, "Memory Lingers," on view
at the Jewish Community Center in West

Bloomfield strictly during the days of the
CAJM meetings, is a collection of mixed
media works including ceramics, prints
and installation.
Artists Gail Rosenbloom Kaplan of
Farmington Hills and Linda Soberman of
Bloomfield Hills planned the JCC viewing
experience to explore themes of memory
and identity.
The "Silent Witnesses" exhibit at the
HMC features 20 works completed by 23
artists exploring the intersection of Jewish
heritage and community migration. After
researching synagogues that drew their
attention, the artists have created paint-
ings, photographs, installations and videos

Left: New York photographer Todd
Weinstein, formerly of Oak Park, shows

the exterior of a German synagogue

with migrating birds overhead.
Right: New Yorker Julian Voloj took

black and white photos of buildings
that were once Detroit synagogues;

here, the cornerstone of Congregation

B'nai Moshe's Dexter building.

to tell the stories that go along with them.
Cynthia Beth Rubin of New Haven,
Conn., the lead artist organizer of a
team that has done a series of group

On The Move on page 43

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