Submitted by the Cincinnati Skirball Museum
After a lengthy closure caused by supply chain issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Skirball Museum galleries devoted to Torah, Life Cycle, and Holidays and Festivals are once again open with new cases, new signage, and ritual objects that have never been on view before. On Thursday, November 9 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. curatorial consultant Abby Schwartz and preparator and collections manager Sheri Besso will offer a behind-the scenes look at the reinstallation of these galleries. A light lunch will be served.
“This grand reopening of major sections of the museum’s core collection is long overdue,” says Schwartz. “We closed several of our galleries in late 2019 to prepare for new display cases, and then faced enormous challenges during COVID. After almost four years, we are thrilled to reopen these spaces and to interpret these beautiful artifacts in new ways.” The new installation includes many ritual and ceremonial objects from the B’nai B’rith Klutznick Collection absorbed by the Skirball in 2015, most of them on view for the first time. Old favorites are seen in a whole new light, literally and figuratively. Schwartz will share highlights of the reinstallation and Besso will discuss the physical changes to the space and her vision for displaying these objects of material culture in the most accessible way possible.
