Upcoming Special Exhibits
Exhibits at Jewish Museum Milwaukee explore the breadth of the Jewish experience and offer visitors to connect with history, culture and the arts.
The Girl in the Diary: Searching for Rywka from the Łódź Ghetto
January 24 – May 17, 2020
Opening Preview: Thursday, January 23, 7:00 pm
In 1945 a Soviet doctor found a school notebook in the liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp. It was a diary written by the teenager Rywka Lipszyc in the Łódź Ghetto between October 1943 and April 1944 — the testament of a Jewish girl who lost her siblings and parents, but never lost hope despite moments of doubt. More than 60 years after its discovery, the diary traveled to the United States to the Holocaust Center of Northern California where Dr. Anita Friedman began the task of trying to locate answers about the notebook and its writer. An international research team was established – all them looking for answers and for Rywka Lipszyc.
Rywka’s diary, a moving memoir of life and adolescence in the Łódź Ghetto, is the starting point for this exhibition. Selected passages are supplemented by expert commentary from historians, doctors, psychologists and rabbis. These commentaries help us to understand the context of the times and events Rywka refers to in her diary. The historical and intimate artifacts displayed in the exhibit, including beads, thimbles, and toys, serve as witness to the personal dimensions of the Holocaust.
Luba Lukova: Designing Justice
June 5 – September 27, 2020
Opening Preview: Thursday, June 4, 7:00 PM
Designing Justice highlights the art of Luba Lukova, an artist and designer who creates thought-provoking posters that address essential themes of humanity and injustice worldwide. Through indelible metaphors she helps visitors develop an empathetic understanding for social and cultural issues that she hopes will catalyze action and change the world. Luba Lukova is a New York-based artist and designer known for her work using simple, bold designs to convey powerful messages.
Luba Lukova: Designing Justice was curated by Luba Lukova in collaboration with the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA).
Shakespeare’s in the Alley: A Tribute to Bob Dylan
June 5 – September 27, 2020
Opening Preview: Thursday, June 4, 7:00 PM
“Bob Dylan has given us jewels – bits of himself that will sparkle through the centuries.” – Skye
Shakespeare’s in the Alley features fabric banners that hang from the Museum’s soaring atrium ceiling. This immersive visual experience pays tribute to the poetry and socially-minded musical contributions of Jewish-American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. As the recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, Dylan’s lyrics are forever cemented in the American literary canon including “protest” songs like “The Death of Emmitt Till.”
Created by Door County-based artist Skye, the banners are 57 inches wide and vary in length from 8 to 26 feet and were hand-stenciled, letter by letter, using fabric markers.
