When we visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin, I was struck by the fact the the way we visit a museum today has drastically changed from the stuffy and staid experiences of the past.
There is a movement towards architecture as an integral part of the experience. I think I first noticed this at the Tate Modern in London, and most recently at the deYoung in San Francisco. The buildings are no longer just a backdrop for the exhibits, but an experience in and of themselves. Daniel Liebskind has taken this one step further by using archictecture to evoke emotion directly tied to the subject matter, in this case the Holocaust, and then the history of Judaism.
On the Lower Level, you enter into a structure of intersecting angles and tilted planes. It immediately makes you feel ungrounded and a
little strange.Behind a large door is the Holocaust Tower, a 24-meter high space lit only by natural light, and unheated. Inside, staring at the high ceiling, in the cold and unadorned room, you get a sense of hopelessness and the futile feeling of entrapment. A tall steel ladder on the wall reaches high up, but ends without reaching the top. There are small glimmers of light above and peeking through holes in the wall, but the room is mostly dark, and even when there are people in there, you feel alone. You can hear people outside, but they seem very far away.
Outside is an installation called the Garden of Exile. 49 concrete columns are filled with earth and arranged on a slanted floor. As you walk through and around them, you occasionally see another person, which can be startling. Even though you are outside, it does not feel any more liberating than the tower, especially viewing the green branches which loom high above.
The other Holocaust installation that was very unique was by Menashe Kadisman, called "Shalechet". Approaching the exhibit, you hear loud clanking sounds, almost like a hammer on a metal surface - but they are irregular sounds. You enter into a large open room and see people walking on what appears to be metal disks.
When you get closer, you realize that the discs are actually abstract faces. In order to walk in the room, you have to walk on them. And when they touch each other, the metal upon metal makes a clanking sound. This was more powerful to me than looking at photograph upon photograph of concentration camp victims. It gave me a more personal connection to the vast numbers of people lost in the war, and brought to mind the question, "How could this happen?" in a much more profound way that in ever had before.
On the other two floors, there is a history of Judaism, which is also very interactive, which is definitely a trend in museums today. We live in a world of constant change and stimulus, this type of viewing is not only to keep the kids ADD in check, it works the same way for the adults. What you come away with a very individual experience and a sense of having participated in the subject matter rather than just having it shown or dictated to you. For me, this will stay with me for a very long time.
