Mirjam Wenzel

Professor Mirjam Wenzel studied literature, political science, and theatre in Berlin and Tel Aviv, earning her doctorate with a dissertation on Holocaust discourse in 1960s Germany. She has authored and co-edited numerous works on German-Jewish art and cultural history, with publications on cultural theory, aesthetics, museology, and Holocaust representations in visual arts.

From 2007 to 2015, she led the media department at the Jewish Museum Berlin, becoming an expert in digital museum transformation. Since 2016, she has directed the Jewish Museum Frankfurt and has been an honorary professor at Goethe University Frankfurt since 2019. She also served as a visiting professor at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in the 2020/21 winter semester.

At NEMO’s European Museum Conference 2024, Mirjam Wenzel will join the panel "We need to talk!" on Monday 11 November.

Presentation abstract:

The challenges of Jewish Museums in Europe under the shadow of war

Polarisations of discourses are leading to increasing dichotomies within society and to an essentialisation of differences between different groups. They nourish hate speech as well as violence. Hamas’ attacks on October 7th 2023, Russia’s invasion and the ongoing war in Palestine, Lebanon, Israel and Ukraine have deepened the dichotomies and accelerated tensions between Jews and other minority groups throughout Europe. Since then, anti-Semitism as well as racism are on the rise which poses a threat to the future of Jewish life and to the diversity of European societies, in general.

The talk will elaborate on the meaning of these developments for Jewish Museums in the European diaspora. Are they still capable of building intercultural bridges and fostering mutual understanding in an increasingly polarized, if not hateful atmosphere?