A Season of Trailblazers
Reimagine
Reset
Reconnect
Manchester Jewish Museum
COMING SOON
Artists in the Archives
Over summer 2020, we paired up members of our Artists Network and asked them about how they use archives in their own work. The result is a joyous, touching and intimate collection of short filmed conversations made from home.
Reimagine – Reset – Reconnect
Manchester Jewish Museum is re-emerging and transforming. In the lead-up to our historic building’s reopening in Spring 2021, we present a season of treats and sneaky peeks.
Museum Foodies Group
Would you like to become a Museum Foodie? Our Foodies Group meet regularly to talk, cook and eat food inspired by the stories of Jewish Manchester.
Our mission
We are a place to experience and explore how we are different, together.
Here, you can bake, sing, laugh, dance, cook, cry, get messy and make friends.
Using our collection and synagogue we connect Jewish stories, culture and traditions to the wider world. In doing so, we bring people together, showing we have more in common than separates us.
We make connections to make things better.
Our new building
We will re-open in 2021 with a new building, twice the size as before. Our synagogue will also have been repaired, refurbished and its original decorative features reinstated.
Designed by award-winning architects, Citizens Design Bureau, our extension will include a new gallery, learning studio & kitchen, collection store, shop and cafe.
A new gallery, designed by All Things, will showcase our collection based around the themes of journeys, communities and identities.
MOORISH RESTORATION
Opened in 1874 by Jewish textile merchants from Spain & Portugal, our synagogue was inspired by Mediterranean Moorish architecture, including the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain.
We are now restoring and preserving this Moorish architecture.
Over the past year, historic paint specialists have analysed paint samples and researched earlier decorative schemes. The original scheme is now being restored and Moorish motifs reinstated on columns, pews and the Ark, helping us connect closer to our synagogue’s past.
Coming Soon
OUR CREATIVE ACTIVISTS
In our latest Trailblazer, a group of young people will become Creative Activists as they explore and share stories to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. Inspired by real life stories past and present, they are creating a powerful act of sharing and connection that considers how we learn from history whilst looking to the future.
Museum Song-writing Group
Our Song-writing Group meet fortnightly to work with amazing composers, singers and musicians to create new music inspired by the stories in our collection. Perfect for anyone who like to sing, write lyrics, play an instrument or just get creative.
Museum Song-writing Group
Our Song-writing Group meet fortnightly to work with amazing composers, singers and musicians to create new music inspired by the stories in our collection. Perfect for anyone who like to sing, write lyrics, play an instrument or just get creative.
July 2019
February 2020
April 2020
July 2020
November 2020
COLLECTION
“An outstanding collection with certain exceptional resources richer and rare, if not unique, among European Jewish museums”
We hold over 31,000 items in our collection, documenting the story of Jewish migration and settlement in Manchester. From 18th century pedlars to Holocaust Survivors and 20th century refugees, the collection reflects each wave of Jewish migration into Manchester.
- Over 530 oral history testimonies
- Over 20,000 photographs
- 138 recorded interviews with Holocaust Survivors and refugees
- A wide-ranging collection of objects, documents and ephemera
OURS AND YOURS
LEARNING
Our engaging and informative learning sessions offer amazing opportunities for booked groups of all ages to learn about faith, culture and history.
Whether it’s baking bread in our learning kitchen or playing detective with real museum objects, your learners should expect the unexpected when visiting this historic synagogue with a difference.
MUSEUM COMMUNITY
We have a growing community of artists, song-writers, textile enthusiasts, local residents and cultural and community partners.
Our song-writing group is for anyone interested in music. We write songs together inspired by the unique and yet universal stories of Jewish Mancunians in the museum’s collection.
Our textile group comprises women of all faiths and backgrounds. Currently midway through their newest project, the group are creating a large-scale textile piece to be hung in the new museum.
Our community groups are a great opportunity to meet other people to share stories and cultural traditions – and we are always looking for new members.
ARTIST’S NETWORK
Our Artists’ Network is for anyone who uses Jewish themes in their arts practice or is interested in making work in archives and heritage settings.