"Moravia was for centuries a refuge for Jews from neighbouring countries and these newcomers contributed in many ways to the culture, society and religious life of the Moravian ...
The Moravian Jewish Museum MEHRIN will present the history of the Jewish presence in Moravia, including the tragic events of the Holocaust and the subsequent silence of the communist era, by making the authentic life stories of Moravian Jews accessible to the public using 21st century technology. None of the Jewish or museum institutions in the Czech Republic use such an approach in their exhibitions. Moreover, the approach to the material in question often promotes stereotypes about Jews and Judaism. In tacit agreement with Nazi theses about racial Jewry, exceptional artists and factory workers are especially identified as Jews, while poor, unsuccessful and needy Jews do not usually figure in the established narrative. Our project aims to recall the history of important Jewish settlements in Moravia and of specific Jewish families in all their richness, including overlaps with neighbouring countries, especially Slovakia and Austria.
The Moravian Jewish Museum will also include the Holocaust Documentation Centre in Moravia. The new building will also become a lively public space in the wider city centre with a well-equipped library, a multifunctional hall for lectures, screenings and exhibitions and an educational centre for children and young people. There will be a stylish café. You can find out much more about the project in Book of Mehrinwhich was published in 2023 on the occasion of the opening of the "temporary" museum Little Mehrin.
A memorandum signed by the Mehrin Foundation and the City of Brno provided the project with an exclusive plot of land on the so-called city ring next to the Fuchs Bus Station U Grand. In early February 2022, after a year of preparation, an international competition was announced for the design of the main museum building, which was prepared for the Foundation by the Brno studio knesl kynčl architects.
The competition was attended by the architectural studios MVRDV (Netherlands), Kengo Kuma & Associates (Japan), Cino Zucchi Architetti (Italy) and Bjarne Ingels Group (Denmark). arch. Josef Pleskot unanimously chose the design by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma as the winner. "All of the competition entries provided a number of suggestions. The architectural interpretation of the brief was clearly different for all four designs.
The spectrum of interpretation was delimited by two extreme positions - the house as a monument (a peculiar sculpture) and the house as a civil, friendly, open medium. The model of an open house in contact with the public surrounding ground was chosen after extensive discussion as more suitable for the comprehensive fulfilment of the assignment and for the city of Brno. The most openness, both in content and form, was unanimously found in the design by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma."
"Moravia was for centuries a refuge for Jews from neighbouring countries and these newcomers contributed in many ways to the culture, society and religious life of the Moravian ...
Fioretta April 28, 2024 at the Art Cinema Although it was a sunny Sunday, the late afternoon screening of Fioretta at the Art Cinema ...
The entire project is formally covered by the Mehrin Foundation Fund, which was established on 25 February 2020. The Fund's Board of Trustees consists of the Minister of Education, Senator and former Rector of Masaryk University doc. PhDr. Mikuláš Bek, Ph.D., who is also its chairman, Martin Reiner, who is also the director of the Foundation Fund, former President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and Senator JUDr. Pavel Rychetský, Ph.D., Mayor of Brno JUDr. Markéta Vaňková, Chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic Ing. Petr Papoušek, and diplomat, former ambassador to Sweden, Ireland, USA and Russia PhDr. Petr Kolář. The auditor is a lawyer, mgr. Marta Hubková. From its establishment until 9 March 2023, the Endowment Fund operated under the name of the Endowment Fund for the Construction and Operation of the Holocaust Documentation Centre in Moravia. Here you can find the Charter of the Foundation and here the Status of the Foundation.
Since the beginning of the project, we have been supported by a long list of prominent personalities, which we greatly appreciate. We select some of them:
The Holocaust Documentation Centre in Moravia is an important initiative. I will try to help make it a success.
I would like to express my strong support, personally and on behalf of the European Union, for the Holocaust Documentation Centre in Moravia... We must look for new ways to pass on the lessons of the Shoah to younger generations, to promote their resilience in the face of the hateful ideologies to which they are exposed every day. The new Documentation Centre will play an important role in educating young people. As an interactive and multi-layered museum, it will not only chart the rich and long history of Jewish communities in Moravia, but will also co-create the future of the Moravian capital.
I consider the establishment of the Moravian Jewish Museum and the Holocaust Documentation Centre in Moravia to be an important undertaking that is in line with the cultural policy of the state and will contribute to the implementation of the international declarations to which the Czech Republic is a signatory. The Ministry of Culture expresses its support for this project and is interested in cooperating, as far as possible, in the future development of the project, either within the framework of standard subsidy programmes or through state-funded organisations. In case of closer cooperation, the Ministry of Culture is open to negotiations on further specification or institutionalisation of cooperation
Mehrin Foundation
Under the Red Rock 996/7
639 00 Brno
Mailbox ID: 8puh6g
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