The international “Jewish Cultural Heritage” congress has ended
On 19-20 October, we held a two-day congress dedicated to “Jewish Cultural Heritage: Practices, Perspectives, Challenges” at POLIN Museum. This special event revolved mainly around discussions on the role of Jewish heritage today, but also on education about diversity and new topics, as well as on the interpretation of the role of Jewish history and culture in Europe today.
The congress was launched by ceremonial speeches delivered by Zygmunt Stępiński, POLIN Museum Director, and by Øystein Bø, His Excellency Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway in Poland, in the presence of, i.a., Ingrid Shulerud from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the prime mover behind the project, and the representatives of: POLIN Museum Council, headed by Mr Marian Turski, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy of the Republic of Poland, as well as the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute and the partners of the "Jewish Cultural Heritage" project.
The international congress provided an opportunity to meet, talk, exchange experiences, as well as to review the outcome of long-term activities of the POLIN Museum team run together with its partners - the Norwegian Centre for the Holocaust and Minority Studies, the Wergeland European Centre, the Falstad Centre and the Jewish Museums in Oslo and Trondheim, as well as the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute - within the "Jewish Cultural Heritage" project.
As part of the congress, we organized 3 moderated debates, 12 lectures and speeches delivered at the POLIN Museum auditorium and 4 more lectures and meetings held online. Together with our partners, we ran as many as 5 topical sessions, 18 workshops, 8 walks in the footsteps of history, and 17 presentations within the "Project Village" program.
Close to 350 people took part in the events on-site; over 1,500 people joined us online.
Read more about the congress →
"Jewish Cultural Heritage" is a project implemented by POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews from March 2020 to April 2024, in partnership with Norwegian institutions: the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies, the European Wergeland Center, the Falstad Center and the Jewish museums in Oslo and Trondheim, as well as with the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw.
The aim of the project is to protect and popularize the heritage of Polish Jews through educational and cultural programs. This task is made possible by a grant of EUR 10 million granted by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Grants and by the national budget.
Congress organizers:
www.eeagrants.org, www.norwaygrants.org, www.gov.pl
