Jewish Heritage
Museums

The primary venue for the presentation of material objects and historical documents related to Jewish history, art and culture is museums. For the majority of Europe’s population, Jewish and non-Jewish museums provide an important venue for learning about Jewish life and they play an increasingly important educational role. The grant programme aims to provide support for museums that have significant holdings pertinent to the preservation and study of Jewish history, culture and religion.

With the exception of a few publicly funded museums, most collections remain relatively isolated. If catalogues exist in smaller museums, they are often inaccessible because they are not available in either published or online form. The maintenance of collections remains a problem, especially for smaller museums, and other challenges include limited exhibition space and small budgets for staff. Further, the ties between publicly sponsored European museums and Jewish communities could be strengthened.

Applications are welcome in the following 4 categories

1. Collections Management

   Support for projects to develop better and more accessible inventories and catalogues of collections, or that improve the protection and conservation of collections will be given priority. Grants can support the cataloguing of special collections, including the preparation of catalogue publications. Digitization projects which carefully consider long-term sustainability will also be supported. Conservation grants can support the conservation of individual objects, groups of objects, or the improvement of conservation programmes through the purchase of supplies and equipment, or the training of staff (see section on professional staff support). Projects will be assessed according to their contribution to the long-term sustainability of the applying institutions and their holdings. Applications can also be made by smaller museums for the improvement of security measures, insurance, temperature and humidity controls, as well as for computerization efforts.

2. Exhibition support

   Support is available for exhibitions of materials from the permanent collections of museums, especially projects involving the research, installation and publication of these materials. Such projects can include both permanent and temporary exhibitions, and the preparation of travelling or exchange exhibitions based on the permanent collection. Projects will be assessed according to their impact and relevance to the wider public.

3. Professional staff support

   Grants are available for the training of staff at all levels, including curators, registrars, conservators, photographers, designers, etc. This can include visits by museum experts to European Jewish institutions, as well as learning trips by museum staff members seeking to visit experts based at other European institutions. In addition, institutions working on pilot projects can apply for funding for visits to other museums in the planning phase of their new initiatives. Institutions wishing to apply for funding to invite a visiting expert, or to enable one of their staff members to travel to a different institution will be asked to include the expert’s curriculum vitae as well as a justification for their choice of visiting expert and the importance of the visit to the host institution.

4. Strategic collaboration among museums

   Support is available for strategic collaboration among museums that wish to operate in one of the above categories. The aim of this category is to share professional expertise and/or resources. Projects will be assessed according to a demonstrated need for collaboration and the impact that it will achieve.

We are not currently accepting applications for this programme