
For thousands of years, people have been turning to supernatural powers to ask for protection and for their hopes to be fulfilled. Religious communities have found different ways to meet this need. In Judaism, tradition itself and prayer are of particular importance.
The special exhibition “Appealing to” presents two works that address this basic human need in completely different ways. Ofir Barak has used macro photography to capture the life of prayer slips wedged into the crevices of the Kotel, the Western Wall on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Israeli photographer’s black-and-white series Chrysalis presents a microscopic view of the paper’s organic structure and its slow decay, which distorts the original appearance of the slips of paper. Brought visually back to life, they speak of past wishes that seem to be in a state of dissolution. What hopes and dreams did they once hold? And did they ever come true?
Michael Bielicky’s Seventy-nine invites viewers to speak. The media sculpture consists of an LED ball on a bottle stand whose projection also has an acoustic dimension that resonates in the exhibition space. The sound is made up of AI answers, only partially intelligible, to visitors’ questions, requests, and wishes. Exhibition viewers can articulate these using a microphone. The contemporary golem the artist has created feels alien and unsettling. It acts on its own, yet at the same time it reacts to visitors’ prompts. Through this dual function, it carries Jewish legend into the age of artificial intelligence.
Event location:
Jewish Museum Frankfurt
Opened today: 10:00 – 18:00
- Museum ticket (permanent exhibition Jewish Museum+Judengasse) normal/reduced12€ / 6 €
- Kombiticket (temporary exhibition+ museum ticket) normal/reduced14€ / 7€
- Temporary Exhibition7€
- Family Card20€
- Frankfurt Pass/Kulturpass1€
- Kids under 18free
- Every last Saturday of the month ("Satourday")free
- Entrance to the building (Life Deli/museum shop/library)free
Reduced entry for:
Students / Trainees (from 18 years)
People with disabilities from 50 % (1 accompanying person free)
People doing military or alternative civilian service / unemployed
Owners of the Frankfurt Card
Free entry for:
Members of the Society of our Friends and Patrons association
Birthday children of all ages
Children and teenagers up to 17 years
Students of the Goethe University / FH / HfMDK
Apprentices from Frankfurt
Refugees
Holders of Museumsufer-Card or Museumsufer-Ticket
Members of ICOM or Museumsbund
Bertha-Pappenheim-Platz 1, 60311 Frankfurt am Main