Michal Friedlander is a cultural historian and museum curator. She has been Curator of Judaica and Applied Arts at the Jewish Museum Berlin since 2001, developing the museum collections and curating exhibitions, both as a co-curator and alone (see below).
Early life Friedlander is one of three daughters of the rabbi Albert Friedlander and his wife Evelyn, and although born in New York City grew up in the United Kingdom.
Education and career Friedlander studied Oriental Studies (classical and modern Hebrew, Aramaic) at Churchill College, Cambridge, graduating with a MA (Cantab.) degree.'Cambridge Tripos Examinations', Times, 23 June 1987. A specialist in the Applied Arts, much of her work focuses on the history and culture of German Jews and on the relationship between material culture and identity. Friedlander has worked in museums in New York City, Los Angeles and Berkeley, curating numerous exhibitions and publishing on a variety of Jewish themes. - Judah L Magnes Museum Official Website- Jewish Museum Berlin Official Website- Skirball Publication
Selected exhibitions The Whole Truth – Everything you always wanted to know about Jews, Jewish Museum Berlin, 2013 - Jewish Museum Berlin Official Website- New Yorker article- Canadian News website- NPR News piece Tonalities: Jewish women ceramicists from Germany after 1933, Jewish Museum Berlin, 2013- Google Arts & Culture Kosher & Co. – On Food and Religion, Jewish Museum Berlin, 2009 - Jewish Museum Berlin Official Website Chrismukka – Stories of Christmas and Hanukka (aka Weihnukka), Jewish Museum Berlin, 2005 - Jewish Museum Berlin Official Website 10 + 5 = G-d – The Power of Signs and Numbers, Jewish Museum Berlin, 2004 - Jewish Museum Berlin Official Website Souvenirs from Israel, 1948-1998, Judah L Magnes Museum, Berkeley, CA, 1998 - Judah L Magnes Museum Official site Jewish Pictorial Carpets from the Anton Felton Collection, London, Judah L Magnes Museum, Berkeley, CA, 1997- Jewish Heritage Report, 1997 Forging an identity: The Art of the Yemenite Silversmith, Judah L Magnes Museum, Berkeley, CA, 1996 - Judah L Magnes Museum Official Site Blood on the Doorstep – The AIDS mezuzah, Judah L Magnes Museum, Berkeley CA, World AIDS Day, 1 December 1996.- Jewish Weekly article- Jewish Weekly article
Selected publications
"The Iron Shield of David: The First World War and the creation of German Jewish markers of patriotism and memory" in Gideon Reuveni et al., (ed.), The Jewish Experience of the First World War, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019 - Official Palgrave Macmillan website Jüdische Allgemeine article, 2018 - Jüdische Allgemeine article "Vasen statt Milchflaschen – Eva Samuel, Hedwig Grossmann und Hanna Charag-Zuntz: die Töpferpionierinnen in Palästina, nach 1932" in exh. cat. Avantgarde für den Alltag, Berlin: Bröhan-Museum, 2013 - Stanford University Official Website- Jewish Museum Berlin Official Website- Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Official Website "The skeptical God-seeker" in R. B. Kitaj (1932-2007) - The Retrospective, Cologne: Kerber Verlag, 2012 - Official Publication Website Kosher & Co. – On Food and Religion, (co-editor and contributor) Nicolai Verlag 2009 - Jewish Museum Berlin Official Website- Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Official Website "Beyond the River - Longing, ambivalence and the Jewish picture of Babylon" in Babylon Mythos und Wahrheit, Pergamonmuseum, Berlin, 2008 - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin "Maccabee® - The branding of a Jewish Hero," Weihnukka/Chrismukka, Nicolai Verlag, 2005 "10 + 5 = G-d" – The Power of Signs and Numbers (co-editor, contributor) Cologne, DuMont Verlag, 2004 - Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Official Website "Liturgie in der jüdischen Tradition" in Petra Werner ed., exh. cat. Jüdische Handschriften. Restaurieren. Bewahren. Präsentieren. Teil 1: Jüdische Kultur im Spiegel der Berliner Sammlung, Berlin: Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, 2002 - Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Official Website "Women in Jewish Ritual Art" in Carolyn Hessel, ed., Blessed is the Daughter, USA: Schreiber Publishing, Inc., 1999 - Book extract- Amazon weblink "Village Jews, The Example of Ichenhausen, München" : Haus der Bayer. Geschichte, 1991 - Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Official Website
External links - Jewish Museum Berlin Official Website - New York Times article - CNN news piece
References