LONDON, ENGLAND.- The Jewish Museum will present the exhibition “A Time to Be Born - Beginning Life in Jewish Tradition,” on view from May 8 to September 21, 2003. On 8 May Dame Ruth Deech, former Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, will open A Time to be Born, an exciting new exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Cam! den Town. Drawing on art and artefacts from around the world, it explores ideas and customs relating to childbirth and fertility, as expressed in Jewish experience and tradition from ancient times to the present day.
The exhibition looks at the ethics, emotions and economics of bringing a child into the world, issues that are as urgent and relevant today as ever. Based on research undertaken by Dr Michele Klein for Beth Hatefutsoth Museum in Israel, it covers themes ranging from sex and marriage, fertility and contraception and abortion, through to the rituals following the birth of a child and the early years of childhood. Particular attention is given to the role of Jewish midwives, from Shifra and Puah who helped save Moses, to Nurse Dora Black, the legendary Manchester midwife. New scientific developments in fertility treatment and genetics pose challenges to Jewish law and raise ethical and religious dilemmas.
A Time to be Born will be illustrated wit! h illuminated marriage contracts, manuscripts and examples of folk art ; amulets, cradle charms and circumcision tools. Unusual exhibits will include an amulet necklace worn by pregnant women and wimpls, binders used to wrap a baby boy at circumcision, afterwards embroidered and painted with the name of the child and presented to the synagogue as a Torah binder. Works of art by contemporary Jewish women artists, expressing their feelings about birth and fertility will also be on display, with paintings by Julie Held, Dora Holzhandler, Anita Klein, Polly Rockberger and Edori Fertig, sculpture by Sue Rhodes and Gillian Singer and embroidered textiles by Tamara Zlotogoura.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a lively program of talks and events, including a panel discussion with experts on fertility treatment and genetic engineering; lectures on the Jewish contribution to the development of the contraceptive pill, and the representation of birth and motherhood in art, and folk songs and ballads from the Sephardi tradition sung by vocalist Lucie Skeaping. Children’s events will include What’s in a Name? a drama workshop, and a craft workshop modeling amulets from clay.
