"Bonds" – a new Core Exhibition gallery coming soon
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In June 2025, we will open the "Bonds" gallery – the epilogue of our Core Exhibition, a 1000-Year History of Polish Jews. Here you will meet descendants of Polish Jews living in New York, Tel Aviv, São Paulo or Melbourne. What does the heritage of their ancestors mean to them today?
A living heritage
The Core Exhibition’s eight galleries chronicle Jewish life in the historical lands of Poland over a millennium. But the heritage of Ashkenazi Jews transcends geographical borders. Culinary traditions, family photographs and memories, the Yiddish language remain woven into the daily lives of those living far from their ancestral home.
Bonds – layers of connection
In this new gallery, Jews from around the world reflect on the meaning of the ties that connect them to their history and heritage. What forms do these bonds take? Some are personal and familial, while others define whole communities.
Contemporary voices
At the heart of the gallery is a multimedia installation featuring eight short films. They were selected from 240 entries to an international competition in 2019. These intimate films explore personal connections to Poland, past and present, in Jewish communities across the Americas, Australia, Europe, Israel, and Poland.
One of the winning films, "Cheesecake" by Kasia Pajzderska, explores how a cake made from a hundred-year-old recipe brought to Melbourne from Poland evokes deep emotions. Another film explores how an annual gefilte fish marathon connects the Hermelin family in Detroit across generations. For months in advance of their Passover seder, they prepare 200 pieces of gefilte fish from scratch.
"It’s not about the fish … It’s really about love and loss in every bite of that Ashkenazi food," according to filmmaker Rachel Fleit.
A unique gallery space
Designed by the acclaimed Polish studio WWAA, which also contributed to the Core Exhibition, the gallery’s installation will feature nearly 700 suspended houses, symbolizing the homes Jews created in the many places where they settled. The little houses are upside down, as if viewed from space. The lighting cycles from dusk to dawn, creating a dynamic interplay of light and shadow. Reflected on mirrored walls, the little houses stretch into infinity.
Marked on a world map on the floor are places to which Jews migrated. Highlighted are the places featured in the films and personal stories from across the globe. Ambient music composed by Olga Mysłowska evolves with the time of day to complete the immersive experience.
The "Bonds" gallery, an epilogue to the Core Exhibition, is a space of reflection. Light, sound, and mirrors dissolve boundaries of space and time.
The experience of migration
More than just the final chapter of our Core Exhibition, the "Bonds" gallery offers a fresh perspective on the history of Polish Jews, one that bridges past and present and opens to the future. The "Bonds" gallery will continue to evolve as new stories are added.
Migration is a universal experience. Whether by choice or necessity, relocating brings a spectrum of emotions that ripple across generations. Through "Bonds," we explore the enduring impact of movement, identity, and belonging.
