The Jewish Museum London is opening in a new interim exhibition space after closing in 2023 due to rising costs.
The Two Rooms exhibition space is located at JW3, the Jewish community centre in Hampstead, London. It is opening on 18 June.
Following a period of financial and organisational challenges between 2019 and 2024, the institution has stabilised operations and is now working on creating a new permanent museum by 2030.
Charles Ross, CEO of the Jewish Museum London, described the new exhibition space as “a reset and a new beginning” for one of Britain’s oldest Jewish cultural institutions.
"While we have continued our programme of educational outreach, object loans and displays around the UK over the past few years, this new interim space is intended to further build public engagement, present thought provoking exhibitions, display highlights from our collection and reconnect with communities as we develop a broader national strategy," Ross said.
"Current plans for our new permanent home are now being crystallised and will be shared in the coming months."
“A reset and a new beginning”
The first exhibition in one room of the museum's new space is titled Legacy: The Story of the Jewish Family who Founded J. Lyons and Fed Britain, inspired by the book Legacy: The Remarkable Story of J. Lyons and the Family Behind It by Thomas Harding.
The other room will display highlights from the Jewish Museum London’s permanent collection in an exhibition called Tree of Life: Stories from Jewish Museum London’s Collection.
"The Jewish Museum has emerged from a challenging period and is now entering a new phase with renewed confidence, new leadership and a clear sense of purpose," said Nick Viner, chair of the board of the Jewish Museum London.
"Holding exhibitions in this interim space is an important step towards creating a new museum that reflects and celebrates the richness, complexity and continuing contribution of Jewish life in Britain."
Curator Nina Pearlman said: "Working across 35,000 objects to create a small yet permanent display in a temporary space has been an opportunity to think afresh about how Jewish history and culture can be presented – not as a single story, but as many, held together by recurring questions about visibility, belonging, and what it means to be rooted in a place."
Images courtesy of the Jewish Museum London
