Full Description
András Koerner is the author of a number of critically acclaimed, award-winning CEU Press titles on the cultural history of Hungarian Jews and Jewish cuisine. This volume continues that tradition by discussing the phenomenon of exhibits on Jewish culinary culture in museums and galleries around the world.
The first part of the book provides an overview of the cultural history of "foodism" and the proliferation of Jewish museums. In addition, it examines the role of cuisine in Jewish identity. It offers an analysis of the history and recent examples of exhibitions on Jewish culinary culture, a subject that has not received scholarly attention until now.
The second part complements this by offering a detailed case study of the book's subject. It showcases a 2022 exhibition in Budapest on the History of Hungarian Jewish Culinary Culture. András Koerner was the co-curator of the show, thus he is able to offer an insider's account of its implementation - concept, scope, goals, audience, and design. He also openly discusses the compromises made and mistakes committed in the exhibition's preparatory work.
This subjective account, quite different from the dry objectivity of catalogues, offers an unusual, behind-the-scenes look at how a complex exhibition like this is prepared. At the same time, the book's appendix includes images of the display boards and some of the exhibited objects - thus it can also stand for a valuable ex-post catalogue.
Contents
Introduction
How Food and Its Culture Became A Fad
The Proliferation of Jewish Museums Since 1945
The Structure of This Book
PART I. Issues of Display
Chapter 1 Problems and Approaches
Exhibitions on Food
Exhibitions on Jewish Food
What Makes an Exhibition on Jewish Food Successful?
Chapter 2 Exhibitions on Jewish Food--A Historical Perspective
Chapter 3 Types of Recent Exhibitions on Jewish Food
Cookbooks and Ephemera
Food-Related Judaica
Kashrut
Its History in A Country
Food and Identity
Food and Place
Food and The Jewish Home
One Kind of Food
Types of Jewish Restaurants
A Single Store or Restaurant
Cooking Demonstrations
Art Exhibitions
PART II. The Story of an Exhibition
An Insider Account of The Exhibition "The History of Hungarian Jewish Culinary Culture"
How It Got Started
The Prospective Audience
Defining the Scope
Goals
Developing the Concept
A Lucky Break
Work on The Layout and Design
Exhibition Opening
Compromises and Mistakes
Supplementary Programs
Reviews and Visitors' Comments
Appendix
A Brief Description of The Budapest Exhibition
The Display Boards
Selected Objects
Selected Bibliography
