The Magnes Collection, in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Center for Jewish Studies, presents “Roman Vishniac. In Focus: 1922-2022.” celebrating the reopening of The Magnes and the richness of the Roman Vishniac Archive.

This 2-day event combines an Open House (May 1) featuring “A Glimpse of Vishniac,” a digital display of photographs of Jewish life from Eastern and Central Europe from before World War II, as well as a day-long virtual Symposium (May 2) with internationally acclaimed scholars discussing the historical context and content of Vishniac’s photographs.

Over the last century, some Jewish worlds have been irretrievably lost while other Jewish worlds have been born anew. Roman Vishniac was a participant in, observer and photographic chronicler of many of these events. His work forms the context for this event and Monday’s symposium topics focusing on the Jewish lives Vishniac captured in interwar Eastern Europe, Weimar Germany, and in the immediate aftermath of the Six Day War in Israel. The photographic images Roman Vishniac took in all three places provide a counterpoint to debates about identity and belonging that once dominated public life and the reverberations of these debates that continue to ring out in our own day.

Sunday, May 1st | Open House | Annual Diller Lecture

A Glimpse of Vishniac and Magnes Current Exhibitions | 3:00-5:00pm

Celebrating the richness of the Roman Vishniac Archive, The Magnes Collection welcomes the public to an in-person reopening reception featuring “A Glimpse of Vishniac,” a digital display of photographs from the Archive revealing Jewish communities and life in the interwar period of Eastern Europe, and in Israel at the end of the 1967 war.

The Magnes Collection galleries will be open to view current exhibitions An Archive of Archives: Roman Vishniac’s Exhibition History | New York, 1971-72, Time Capsules. The Magnes: 10 Years at UC Berkeley, and In Real Times. Arthur Szyk: Art & Human Rights (1926-1951).

For more information about this event, including how to register, please visit the event website.