The 16th annual Days of Jewish Culture starts today

NEWS: 09 10 2023

A reading from the poetry of the Israeli poet and publicist Eli Eli Eliyahu at the Museum of Modern Art will open the 16th annual Days of Jewish Culture in Olomouc on Monday 9 October. The two-week festival, which is jointly organized by the Olomouc Museum of Art, the Centre for Judaic Studies of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Prague and the Jewish Community of Olomouc, this time bears the motto In Society Is Strength. 

Ivana Cahová, the festivals dramaturge and head of the Department of Judaic Studies, explains the theme. In addition to those that ensured the practical running of the religious community (e.g. the funeral fraternity of the chevra kadisha), various secular social activities began to develop. Often, in many ways, they copied the activities of non-Jewish associations. Physical education in particular was very popular, and Zionist societies also saw a significant increase in their membership." 

Through a series of lectures, the 16th annual DŽKO festival will present the activities of these important Jewish organizations and highlight the strong social permeability between them and non-Jewish groups, which is evidence of the close ties between the Jewish and German liberal upper middle classes. "Yet behind the founding of most Jewish secular societies was the fact that in an atmosphere of growing nationalism, Jews were less and less welcome in the declining Austrian monarchy," says festival dramaturg and MUO production manager Alexandr Jeništa.

The second level of reflection on social engagement that the festival pursues is the civic initiatives that are so typical of contemporary civil society in Israel. "Israelis rarely wait for the state or subordinate administrative institutions to do something for them. They try to find ways on their own and, if possible, right away. As usual, the DŽK film section will present Israeli and documentary works related to the main festival theme. The audience will therefore be able to see, for example, the documentary by Daphni Leef, who as a student decided to protest against the unbearable housing prices in the Israeli capital, and her stand sparked a massive national response," Cahová explains the thematic programme of the festival. 

The opening of the DŽK will take place on Monday 9 October at 5 pm in the Museum of Modern Arts Besední Hall, where the first event of the festival will also take place. "Readings from the poetry of the Israeli poet and journalist Eli Eliyahu in Hebrew and Czech translation will be taken up by the translator of his poetry - Marcela Sulak, an Americanist, translator and herself also a poet with Czech roots. The opening will be immediately followed by a concert by the quartet of the outstanding Israeli trumpeter Itamar Borochov, who has long been active on the New York jazz scene and confirms the exceptional position of contemporary Israeli jazz in the global context," says Jeništa.

The 16th edition of the Days of Jewish Culture Olomouc will offer 17 events organized not only in the Museum of Art and the Jazz Tibet Club, but also in the Red Church of the Scientific Library, the headquarters of the Olomouc Jewish Community or the premises of the Museum and Gallery in Prostějov. The festival was created with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Olomouc Region, the City of Olomouc, the Embassy of Israel, the Holocaust Victims Foundation and Palacký University.