-Courtesy of Broad Street Communications
feature photo: Faith Ringgold—by Jessi Melcer
As Jonathan Horowitz’s powerful special exhibition — which addresses antisemitism, racial violence, immigration, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights — grows in relevance, Philadelphia’s Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History (The Weitzman) announces that it has been extended through July 4, 2023.
Originally scheduled to run through December 2022, “The Future Will Follow the Past: An Exhibition by Jonathan Horowitz”, is a transformative art exhibition that explores the significant changes America has experienced since 2020 and issues it has been grappling with for decades.
“Jonathan Horowitz’s exhibition continues to grow in relevance since the Museum reopened in May,” said Dr. Josh Perelman, The Weitzman’s Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Interpretation. “With antisemitism, racism, inequality, and hate speech becoming more and more commonplace, art that challenges those notions can be an antidote. As a history museum, it’s our job to make history relevant to today and that’s why ‘The Future Will Follow the Past’ continues to be important.”
Horowitz plans to lead small group tours of the exhibition over the next six months. Most pieces in the exhibition will remain in place, while a couple will change, due to other commitments.
The intersectionality of the exhibition has inspired much of the Museum’s recent public programming, which welcomes conversations about identity, such as programs featuring Black-Jewish food historian Michael Twitty and Indigidenous-Jewish actress Sarah Podemski.
The Weitzman – the only museum in the nation dedicated exclusively to exploring and interpreting the American Jewish experience – is open to the public on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Museum admission continues to be free for the near future, made possible through a generous challenge grant from The Jane and Daniel Och Family Foundation, which has committed matching funds to subsidize admission over the next two years, up to $500,000.
About “The Future Will Follow the Past: An Exhibition by Jonathan Horowitz”
May 2022 – July 2023
“The Future Will Follow the Past: An Exhibition by Jonathan Horowitz” explores the transformative changes America has experienced since 2020 and addresses antisemitism, racial violence, immigration, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights and more. It offers new perspectives on history and raises – but does not answer – questions related to themes, ideas, and events found in The Weitzman’s core exhibition, which interprets over 360 years of American Jewish life.
Horowitz, an artist who is known for incorporating social issues into his practice, has designed a series of installations that include key works from his oeuvre and significant works by renowned artists across generations.
As a “visual commentary,” Horowitz’s installations engage with the core exhibition’s major themes – including immigration and adaptation, tradition and change, and advocacy and service – and respond to the current intensification of xenophobia, racism, antisemitism, and other forms of bigotry. Relevant, reflective, and surprising, they bring fresh, new layers of meaning to the experience of museum goers. Visitors encounter them throughout the Museum, and each floor includes at least one large-scale work.
A QR code-based audio tour featuring Horowitz, Erica Brown, Vice Provost and Inaugural Director of Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership at Yeshiva University, and Beth Wenger, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies/Moritz and Josephine Berg Professor of History, accompany the special exhibition.
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