After a three-year hiatus that left its doors decidedly shut, London's Jewish Museum is making a comeback. And not just any comeback, but one involving a temporary space, big plans, and the sweet, sweet history of a famous tea shop.
The museum, which has been around for almost a century, went dark in 2023 due to some rather inconvenient financial issues. But as of June 17, it's back in business, albeit in a pop-up exhibition space called "Two Rooms."
History, Tea, and Big Plans
These two rooms are nestled inside JW3, a Jewish community center in Hampstead, North London. Conveniently, JW3 was founded by Nick Viner, who also happens to chair the museum's board. Talk about keeping it in the family.
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Start Your News DetoxThis temporary home isn't just a stopgap; it's a stepping stone. The museum is aiming to open a brand-new, permanent location by 2030, which, if you think about it, is both ambitious and a great excuse to start a countdown.
Charles Ross, the museum's new chief executive, joined last fall, bringing a sales and marketing background — because apparently, even ancient artifacts need a good pitch. He believes now is a particularly crucial time for a Jewish museum. Hard to argue with that.
One of the inaugural exhibitions at Two Rooms will spotlight the Jewish family behind J. Lyons & Co., a company that basically invented the London tea shop and bakery chain in 1884. Joseph Lyons and his brothers-in-law, Isidore and Montague Gluckstein, started it all. At its peak, they ran about 200 cafes. Let that satisfying number sink in. This show is part of a series exploring the German-Jewish Lyons family's impact on British food and manufacturing, which, let's be honest, is a pretty delicious slice of history.
The second exhibition, "Tree of Life: Stories from Jewish Museum London’s Collection," will dig into the museum's 35,000-object collection. We're talking Judaica, photos, and artifacts that trace Jewish life in Britain from the 1650s all the way to 2023. Both exhibitions will be open until October 18.
Nick Viner calls these exhibitions a vital step toward creating a new museum that will celebrate the "richness, complexity and continuing contribution of Jewish life in Britain." Which, after a three-year break, sounds like a very welcome return indeed.
