Sacred Mountains. Abrahamic Religions and Musical Practices in the Mediterranean Area

Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Free and open to the public A documentary devoted to three pilgrimages to sacred mountains in the three Abrahamic Religions. The work explores the role of music practices as a way of prayer and participation, and the importance of sound in shaping and giving meaning to places. The narrative is shaped around three episodes, each devoted to a different event, following the usual moments of a pilgrimage. The Ascent: on the occasion of Shavuot, the Israelite Samaritans go to pray on Mount Gerizim, in the West Bank, where their sacred places are located. The Feast: in August, members of the brotherhood of the Bektashi climb Mount Tomorr, in Albania, where they pray near the tombs of dede, and practice the kurban (a sacrificial slaughtering of a sheep, whose meat is consumed by each participating family). The Descent: in early September, the miraculous statue of the Black Madonna of Viggiano, Queen of Lucania, in Italy, "descends" into the village for a festival. Nicola Scaldaferri is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural Heritage and Environment at the University of Milan, Italy, where he founded […]

The Gallery & the Archive

Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Free and open to the Public Join David Wilson, Greg Niemeyer and Nicki Green, three contemporary artists who, in recent years, have interacted with The Magnes Collection and contributed to […]

Magic Spells: A Research Workshop on Hebrew Amulets

Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Please note: The February 27 event has been canceled. The series will begin on March 20. Join Magnes curators to discover the elaborate texts and imagery, magic formulas, and Kabbalistic […]

City of Berkeley 16th Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day

Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Honoring Hana Berger Moran, distinguished survivor. Featuring Joel Ben-Izzy, storyteller; Mike Perlmutter, Gerry Tenney, Dmitri Gaskin, Dusan Rustic, musicians. This event is free and open to the public. For all […]

Irvin Ungar on Arthur Szyk: Soldier in Art

Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

In 2017, The Magnes acquired from Irvin Ungar, a private collector, the most significant collection of works by Arthur Szyk (Łódź, Poland, 1894 – New Canaan, Connecticut, 1951)  thanks to […]

Around Arthur Szyk: Berkeley Scholars on Art and History

Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Additional Program Date: Tue, Nov 27, 2018 5:30pm The Taube Family Arthur Szyk Collection comprises hundreds of artworks, sketches, illustrated books, and archival documents created between two world wars and […]

Around Arthur Szyk: Berkeley Scholars on Art and History

Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Poland Reborn: A State Between Democracy and Fascism John Connelly, History, UC Berkeley RSVP here This talk focuses on the divided Poland that emerged after World War I. On the one […]