Derfner Judaica Museum + The Art Collection at Hebrew Home at Riverdale

Current Exhibitions

September 10, 2023–January 21, 2024

This exhibition features large-scale ink paintings on rice paper intersected by brilliant bands of color, a neon installation and a short film by Chinese feminist artist Zhen Guo. These works evolved out of a 2016 series of monochromatic, semi-abstract landscapes that explored the silencing of women. Guo began inserting stripes of saturated color into the black and white compositions in 2022, describing this action as “a need for change,” and an opportunity for optimism. Learn more >>

Tradition and Remembrance: Treasures of the Derfner Judaica Museum

Ongoing

With approximately 250 objects, this exhibition drawn from the permanent collection explores the intersections of Jewish history and memory. The stories of objects used in traditional Jewish practice are interpreted in light of the role of memory in shaping both individual and communal identities. Among the featured objects in the exhibition are a silver filigree vase, ca. 1911, and an early copper alloy Hanukkah lamp, both from the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts founded in Jerusalem in 1906. Other objects come from near and far, including a set of 18th-century German Torah implements, a handsomely illuminated 19th-century Italian marriage contract and a 2nd–4th century lamella amulet. Learn more >>