Having and Belonging Homes and Museums in Israel [Hardcover]

The home and the museum are typically understood as divergent, even oppositional, social realms: whereas one evokes privacy and familial intimacy, the other is conceived of as a public institution oriented around various forms of civic identity. This meticulous, insightful book draws striking connections between both spheres, which play similar roles by housing objects and generating social narratives. Through fascinating explorations of the museums and domestic spaces of eight representative Israeli communitiesChabad, Moroccan, Iraqi, Ethiopian, Russian, Religious-Zionist, Christian Arab, and Muslim Arabit gives a powerful account of museums role in state formation, proposing a new approach to collecting and categorizing particularly well-suited to societies in conflict.

There are many books that attempt to place museums in a national and a subnational context, butHaving and Belongingsinnovative methodology and careful research set it apart. It makes a valuable contribution not only to museology but also to studies of immigration, nationalism, and ethnicity.? Steven Lavine, California Institute of the Arts

This is a well-written and highly original work combining studies of material culture, life histories, museums, and migration. It offers a kaleidoscopic perspective on the many communities that comprise Israeli society, with an analysis that is multilayered and empathetic.? Dienke Hondius, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

A Note about the Cover
Illustrations

Preface:Switzerland?

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1.Establishing collections, building a nation
Chapter 2.Exhibiting belief: religious objects in a secular institute
Mrs Marantz and the Israel Museum

Chals