Exhibiting Jewish Culinary Culture

András Koerner's book explores the phenomenon of exhibits on Jewish culinary culture in museums and galleries worldwide, providing an overview of the cultural history of foodism and the proliferation of Jewish museums. It offers an analysis of the history and recent examples of exhibitions on Jewish culinary culture, with a detailed case study of a 2022 exhibition in Budapest on the History of Hungarian Jewish Culinary Culture. The book includes images of the display boards and some of the exhibited objects, making it a valuable ex-post catalogue.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 30 June 2024
Publisher: Central European University Press

András Koerner is the author of numerous critically acclaimed and award-winning CEU Press titles on the cultural history of Hungarian Jews and Jewish cuisine. This volume continues that tradition by discussing the phenomenon of exhibits on Jewish culinary culture in museums and galleries around the world. The first part of the book provides an overview of the cultural history of foodism and the proliferation of Jewish museums. In addition, it examines the role of cuisine in Jewish identity. It offers an analysis of the history and recent examples of exhibitions on Jewish culinary culture, a subject that has not received scholarly attention until now. The second part complements this by offering a detailed case study of the book's subject. It showcases a 2022 exhibition in Budapest on the History of Hungarian Jewish Culinary Culture. András Koerner was the co-curator of the show, thus he is able to offer an insider's account of its implementation – concept, scope, goals, audience, and design. He also openly discusses the compromises made and mistakes committed in the exhibition's preparatory work. This subjective account, quite different from the dry objectivity of catalogues, offers an unusual, behind-the-scenes look at how a complex exhibition like this is prepared. At the same time, the book's appendix includes images of the display boards and some of the exhibited objects – thus it can also stand for a valuable ex-post catalogue.

Weight: 542g
Dimension: 185 x 229 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789633867204