Light x Eight: Hanukkah 2010 Held at The Jewish Museum

The Jewish Museum is presenting Light x Eight: Hanukkah 2010 at The Jewish Museum. This new annual celebration features exhibitions of Hanukkah-related works, eclectic music, family festivities, provocative talk and more. Highlights include a bold and dramatic installation of Hanukkah lamps designed by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind; Libeskind in conversation with The Jewish Museum's director, Joan Rosenbaum, on December 2; The Klezmatics in concert December 7; and family programs on November 21 and December 5.

The Jewish Museum will offer a special $8 admission for Hanukkah, from December 1 to 9. On Saturday, December 4, when Museum admission is free, visitors can receive a complimentary jelly doughnut while supplies last.

A complete guide to Hanukkah at The Jewish Museum can be found on its website, http://www.TheJewishMuseum.org/Hanukkah2010. Visitors to the site can browse through the Museum's online collection of 500 Hanukkah lamps, plan a visit, learn about Hanukkah from the educator resource and fun holiday family feature, shop for Hanukkah gifts, give a gift of a Jewish Museum membership, and more. The public can celebrate the holiday by signing up to receive eight daily Hanukkah e-mails at TheJewishMuseum.org/HanukkahEnews. Each e-mail will include an image of a beautiful work from the Museum's collection, special offers and other Unique Features.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

November 19, 2010 - January 30, 2011
Exhibition
A Hanukkah Project: Daniel Libeskind's Line of Fire

For A Hanukkah Project: Daniel Libeskind's Line of Fire, Daniel Libeskind, an international figure in architecture and urban design, has created a bold and dramatic installation featuring 40 Hanukkah lamps from the Museum's renowned collection. Focused on the central ritual of Hanukkah - the kindling of flames in commemoration of an ancient victory for religious freedom - Libeskind's design interprets Hanukkah through an evocative metaphor for the spiritual power of fire. The Line of Fire, a jagged structure in brilliant red that diagonally bisects the gallery, serves as a pedestal for the Hanukkah lamps, and symbolizes the flames of the lamps lit on the holiday. The irregular lines and angles of the Line of Fire are a recurring feature in Libeskind's work, where they often signify the continuity of Jewish existence through sudden changes in circumstances, some of them catastrophic. The selection of Hanukkah lamps exemplifies the diversity of the Museum's collection, from an 18th century work made from the helmet shield of a Hessian soldier who fought in the American Revolution, to a 19th century East European silver menorah that was lit by President George W. Bush at the White House, to Karim Rashid's 2004 Menoramorph, made from neon green silicon. Also on view is a 1985 Hanukkah lamp by noted architect Richard Meier, who fashioned each candleholder into an architectural representation from significant moments of persecution in Jewish history. Lamps from Austria, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and the United States are included ranging from the 17th to the 21st century.

This exhibition has been made possible by the Barbara S. Horowitz Contemporary Art Fund.

November 19, 2010 - January 30, 2011
Hanukkah-related works added to permanent exhibition

Three major sculptural installations related to Hanukkah will be on view in the contemporary gallery of Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey, The Jewish Museum's permanent exhibition. Alice Aycock's Greased Lightning (1984) is a motorized kinetic sculpture featuring an oversized moving dreidel, the small, inscribed top that children play with during the holiday. Miracle (2004) by Lyn Godley is a playful and monumental Hanukkah lamp that uses multiple lights to evoke the cumulative effect of progressively lighting the candles over eight nights. Matthew McCaslin's Bring the Light (2000) fashions metal electrical conduit, light switches and porcelain light fixtures into an innovative and decidedly nontraditional Hanukkah lamp. In addition, a selection from Eleanor Antin's video Vilna Nights (1993-97), a photograph by Mike Mandel entitled Robot Lights the Chanukah Candles (1985), and works on paper by Larry Rivers (1982) and Marc Alan Jacobs (1994) will be included.

November 19, 2010 - January 2, 2011
Window Installation
Large, cut-out images of eight Hanukkah lamps in the Line of Fire exhibition with light shining through them will be on view in eight windows: six on Fifth Avenue and two on 92nd Street.

Sunday, November 21 at 10:30 am
Art Workshop and Gallery Tour for Families
Glowing Tapestries for Hanukkah

Families will see selections from The Jewish Museum's collection of Hanukkah lamps and work with multimedia artists LoVid (Tali Hinkis and Kyle Lapidus) to craft a luminous tapestry using low-tech electronics and colorful fabric collage. Ages 8 to 12.

Tickets: $12 per adult; $10 per child; $10 adult Jewish Museum family level member;
$8 child Jewish Museum family level member
Advance registration is required - space is limited - parents can call 212.423.3337 to register.

Mondays, November 22 to January 24 at 1 pm
Gallery Talks
Lamps Illuminated

Jewish Museum curators will tell the stories behind Hanukkah lamps on view in A Hanukkah Project: Daniel Libeskind's Line of Fire. Each 20 minute talk focuses on a different lamp.

November 22 Melissa Klein, Leon Levy Curatorial Assistant
November 29 Daniel Belasco, Henry J. Leir Associate Curator
December 6 Joanna Montoya, Curatorial Assistant
December 13 Nelly Silagy Benedek, Director of Education
December 20 Rebecca Pristoop, Curatorial Assistant
December 27 Susan Braunstein, Curator of Archaeology & Judaica
January 3 Stephen Brown, Assistant Curator
January 10 Karen Levitov, Associate Curator
January 24 Claudia Nahson, Curator

Free with Museum admission

Thursday, December 2 at 6:30 pm
In Conversation: Daniel Libeskind and Joan Rosenbaum

Internationally celebrated architect Daniel Libeskind joins Joan Rosenbaum, Director of The Jewish Museum, to discuss how his work embodies Jewish sensibilities.

Tickets: $20 general public; $18 Jewish Museum members

Sunday, December 5 from Noon to 4 pm
Hanukkah Family Day

Children can create Hanukkah lamps made from found objects; see a puppet performance by Talking Hands Theater; listen to holiday tunes by The Macaroons; and see architect Daniel Libeskind's unique installation of selections from the Museum's Hanukkah lamp collection. Age 3 and up.

Free with Museum admission

Tuesday, December 7 at 7:30 pm
Concert
The Klezmatics

Celebrate Hanukkah with a special concert by The Klezmatics. Globally renowned world music superstars, they are the only klezmer band to win a Grammy Award.

Tickets: $35 general public; $30 Jewish Museum members

The festival of Hanukkah commemorates an ancient victory for religious freedom - the liberation and reestablishment of Jewish worship in the Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BCE. According to legend, a miracle occurred as the Jews gave thanks for divine intervention. A one-day supply of consecrated oil necessary for worship burned for the entire eight-day celebration. One of the most popular and beloved Jewish ceremonial objects, the Hanukkah lamp has evolved over the centuries for the kindling of lights during the eight nights of Hanukkah. The Jewish Museum's collection of Hanukkah lamps reflects the multitude of places where Jews have lived and flourished, as they often incorporate local styles and motifs. The design and history of each lamp speak to a complex interaction of political events, Jewish law, artistic expression, and personal experience. The millennia-old tradition of kindling the festival lights on a winter's evening continues to have profound meaning around the world as a celebration of freedom and miracles. Hanukkah begins at sundown on Wednesday, December 1 and continues until sundown on Thursday, December 9, 2010.

About The Jewish Museum
Widely admired for its exhibitions and educational programs that inspire people of all backgrounds, The Jewish Museum is the preeminent United States institution exploring the intersection of 4,000 years of art and Jewish culture. The Jewish Museum was established in 1904, when Judge Mayer Sulzberger

donated 26 ceremonial art objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary of America as the core of a museum collection. Today, the Museum maintains an important collection of 26,000 objects-paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, archaeological artifacts, ceremonial objects, and broadcast media.

General Information
Museum hours are Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, 11am to 5:45pm; Thursday, 11am to 8pm; and Friday, 11am to 4pm. Regular Museum admission is $12.00 for adults, $10.00 for senior citizens, $7.50 for students, free for children under 12 and Jewish Museum members. Admission is free on Saturdays. For general information on The Jewish Museum, the public may visit the Museum's website at http://www.thejewishmuseum.org or call 212.423.3200. The Jewish Museum is located at 1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street, Manhattan.

 

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!