The Israel Museum: where great art and new trends come together
- Ilaria Myr
- Apr 22, 2023
- 6 min read
23 Aprile 2023
di Ilaria Myr
It is a star museum, unique in its kind for the concept of dispersed and asymmetrical units on which it was conceived. Certainly a must-see attraction for anyone visiting Israel, it is a true treasure trove of artworks from every era and from around the world, with which it engages in a constant and fruitful dialogue. Founded in 1965 on the initiative of Marc Chagall, who considered it essential to the building of a democratic state, and brought to life by the legendary mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek, the Israel Museum is regarded as one of the world’s leading museums and unquestionably the most extraordinary in the Middle East.
Its vast collection of more than 500,000 objects ranges from archaeological finds to contemporary art, both Israeli and international. It spans from the Antiquities Wing—home to unique pieces from the many civilizations that have passed through this land—to the Jewish Art and Life Wing, which features objects from Jewish communities established in Africa, Oceania, South America, and the East, as well as full-scale reconstructions of synagogues from various parts of the world, including Venice, India, and Suriname. Added to this is an original document by Einstein on the theory of relativity.
There is also a scale model of Jerusalem at the time of the Second Temple, allowing visitors to imagine what the city looked like before it was destroyed by the Romans in 66 CE. Then there is the sculpture garden, featuring more than sixty works by Israeli and international artists. But the most important part of the Israel Museum is undoubtedly the Shrine of the Book (pictured above), which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating from between 250 BCE and 66 CE. These comprise around one thousand manuscripts in Hebrew and Aramaic, discovered by shepherds in 1947 in caves near the Dead Sea.
Overseeing this world of culture and beauty since March 2022 is Denis Weil. Born in Switzerland, he comes from a family of supporters of the Museum and founders of the Swiss association dedicated to its support. We met him on the occasion of the gala dinner of the Association of Italian Friends of the Israel Museum (AIMIG), held on March 22 at Palazzo Visconti.
First of all, what does it mean to lead a museum as important as the Israel Museum?
First of all, what does it mean to lead a museum as important as the Israel Museum?
The Israel Museum is a public institution, even though it is not state-run. Each year we welcome around 900,000 visitors, half of whom are tourists and half Israelis. Our mission is to bring world culture to Israel and Israeli culture and that of the Jewish people to the world, in a continuous exchange among cultures that must include all the cultures living in this country. Our focus therefore has to be on the experience we offer, and for this reason we must become increasingly inclusive. At present, Arab audiences and ultra-Orthodox audiences are underrepresented, but our mission is to be a museum for everyone. What we are trying to do, therefore, is to redefine our identity.
How did you approach the post-pandemic recovery period? What were the main challenges?
When I took office, the pandemic crisis was already almost over, and the big question for everyone was what the “new normal” would be. For museums in particular, this meant addressing the changes in people’s habits that occurred during the pandemic, such as the introduction—by many institutions—of digital tours. On our side, we resumed regular visits very quickly, returning to full opening hours, and today we are back to 90% of our pre-Covid numbers, a higher average than the rest of Europe, which stands at around 80%. We also relaunched our exhibitions, with ten new shows in 2022 that were very successful.
Internal management proved a bit more challenging: people had become accustomed to working from home, so returning to normal operations took some effort. In addition, we had many vacant positions, which we are only now in the process of filling. Last year we also took some risks by organizing our international conference: we were not sure many people would attend, but in the end there were 120 participants, and it went very well. Just four weeks ago we removed the plexiglass from the information desks and ticket counters, so we can now say that there are no longer any traces of Covid in the museum.
How has the Museum evolved—and how is it continuing to evolve—with changes in society and over time?
Today, museums—and the Israel Museum is no exception—must face three major challenges: becoming more inclusive, embracing digital transformation, and questioning what art is today. The issue, therefore, is how we should evolve: how to use digital tools in ways that enhance the visitor experience while always respecting the authenticity of what we offer, and how to safeguard the cultural dimension of our work. Art, in fact, is not only about aesthetics, but also about meaning and learning about new cultures.
Ours is also a museum campus (as reflected in the logo, ed.), with each museum housing a different type of works, ranging from the most ancient to the contemporary. This brings both advantages and disadvantages: on the one hand, there is something of interest for everyone; on the other, we are perhaps too fragmented into separate departments. For this reason, we are currently working on five key themes around which to structure our programming—an approach we believe will help us reach a broader audience.
Starting from antiquity, we can develop exhibitions focused on the pillars of society. The first of these, open from April 4 to December 31, 2023, is titled “The Feast”, and from 3000 BCE to the present day it explores how banquets and celebrations have evolved over the millennia. In this way, we help people understand the present through archaeology, offering a new way of interpreting it. The theme of sustainability can also be addressed by starting from antiquity, engaging with artifacts from civilizations that disappeared due to environmental disasters and human error.
You house some extremely ancient works, first and foremost the Dead Sea Scrolls. How much work and research does it take to preserve artifacts that are so old and so important?
Many ancient artifacts are made of durable materials such as metal or stone, which are not significantly affected by the passage of time, whereas textiles and paper objects are obviously more fragile. The Dead Sea Scrolls, housed in the Shrine of the Book pavilion, are cared for by a specialized laboratory whose task is to maintain the correct levels of humidity and temperature. It is also essential to understand how to avoid causing irreversible damage. For example, when the Scrolls museum was created in 1964, the manuscripts were displayed vertically; over time, however, it became clear that gravity caused cracking, so they were repositioned horizontally.
The issue of transporting them to other international museums for exhibitions is also extremely delicate. We still lack clear evidence of the impact that movement and air transport may have on them, which is why we are waiting to conduct targeted research before proceeding.
How much does the Israel Museum contribute to knowledge of the Jewish people and of Israel? And how much can it help combat stereotypes and prejudice?
As I mentioned, our primary goal is to bring world culture to Israel, and given the constructive power of culture, the Israel Museum can certainly help build and strengthen society. At the same time, we aim to promote knowledge of Jewish culture, which is why we have an exceptionally rich section dedicated to Jewish art and life. In fact, it is the largest museum in the world devoted to Jewish culture, both in terms of the materials on display and its physical size, and it is the only one to cover Jewish culture worldwide over the past 2,000 years.
For Purim, for example, we opened a new exhibition dedicated to burial shrouds. Some date back 2,000 years and come from the Dead Sea region; others are from Yemen, and still others from the United States, Italy, and France. It is the first exhibition on this subject ever held anywhere in the world and required extensive research. Admittedly, the topic may seem somber, but we chose to present it almost as a fashion exhibition, focusing on the differences among countries and on the various ways these garments are used within Jewish life depending on location.
It is also worth remembering that after the Second World War we received many Jewish objects from the American army, items that had been saved by soldiers. Today, at a time when the issue of restitution is very much in the spotlight, we believe it is important for these objects to be displayed in a single place where thousands of people can see them. We also believe they should be located in the countries where most descendants of the communities to which they belonged now live—primarily Israel and the United States—though there are, of course, exceptions where communities have been reborn. A major debate is therefore underway among Jewish museums on how to address this issue, and we are participating in it with great interest. Consideration must also be given to where these objects would be preserved if returned, and what value they would retain if moved from a place where they have been for 70 years to another.
As far as Italy is concerned, our collection includes two ancient objects that were recently identified by the Carabinieri as looted property: one has been returned, while the other has remained with us due to a lack of space on the part of the intended recipients.
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