Manchester Jewish Museum

7 May 2021

Second World War and Holocaust Partnership Programme with IWM

Manchester Jewish Museum Creative Activists, December 2020

To coincide with highly anticipated opening of Imperial War Museum’s (IWM) new Second World War and The Holocaust Galleries this autumn, a new partnership programme bringing together cultural heritage partners across the UK has been launched.

Manchester Jewish Museum will be joining seven other regional partners in the Second World War and Holocaust Partnership Programme (SWWHPP). The partners will engage national audiences with hidden or lesser-known stories from across the country relating to the Second World War and the Holocaust.

Manchester Jewish Museum’s project will uncover lesser-known local stories from the Holocaust, working with our young Creative Activists group who will connect with diverse local communities to share lessons learned from these stories to help make a positive difference in the world. We will be exploring how performative and artistic responses to the commemoration of the Holocaust can lead to deeper engagement and understanding as well as changing behaviours and attitudes.

The other partners working with Imperial War Museums are Aberystwyth University/Prifysgol Aberystwyth; Bodmin Keep and the Museum of Cornish Life; The Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association, Leeds and Huddersfield; The National Holocaust Centre and Museum, Nottinghamshire; National Museums Northern Ireland and Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums. The SWWHPP is generously funded by the National Lottery Heritage fund.

As part of their involvement in SWWHPP, each of the partners will be working with StoryFutures Academy and a group of celebrated authors and writers to develop a digital installation which will provide a unique and immersive sound experience for audiences. Designed by creative agency Joi Polloi, this installation will open in IWM London before it tours the country in 2022 and 2023. Manchester Jewish Museum have been working with playwright Nicola Baldwin who has been collaborating with our Creative Activists Group to include their voices and the contemporary resonance of the Holocaust into the installation.

Over the next three years the SWWHPP will also establish a digital internship and support digital skills development across the partner organisations to support digital and community based engagement.

Click here for more information on SWWHPP.

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