Based at the University of Oxford, the Jewish Country Houses Project takes country houses as a starting point for opening up a much broader intellectual agenda at the interface between Jewish history, art history and heritage culture. A distinctive feature of this AHRC-funded project is the way in which it brings scholars and heritage professionals together to map out a new heritage landscape. Before the pandemic we met at conferences which we organised in partnership with historic houses like Waddesdon Manor and Villa Kerylos: this proved a very powerful way of fostering personal and intellectual connections. Now, many events are held over Zoom, which allows us to create a more regular contact, one that renders the network meaningful in a different way.

On Sunday 10 October Italy opened the national Days of Jewish Heritage as a part of the European Days of Jewish Culture which started on 5 September with the European opening in Luxembourg.

The president of AEPJ François Moyse had been invited by UCEI, the federation of Jewish communities of Italy to attend the opening of the Giornata Europea della Cultura Ebraica in Padova.

Prior to his coming, he visited the community of Venice. Thanks to board member Annie Sacerdoti, a tour of the ancient Jewish cemetery on Lido island had been organized, with explanations of a guide, showing the great variety of tombs belonging both to sefardi and ashkenazi families. The most impressive were the signs of different families put on the stones.

On September 30, the Israeli House held an exhibition of the Jewish Cultural Heritage, along with a business forum, within the “Israeli Week”, which was opened in accordance with pandemic-related regulations. The pictures of the winners of the Parallel Traces contest as well as photographs of Jewish Heritage locations in Georgia taken by the “Israeli House” were presented at the exhibition. The event was attended by 120 people from Israel, including Parliamentarians and Businessmen.

The “Israeli House”, a member of The European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage (AEPJ)/Cultural Route certified by the Council of Europe and, has held many events in cooperation with AEPJ. The organization in Georgia officially supervises the European Route of Jewish Heritage in Georgia, which has been operating for five years.

Last September 5, in the heart of the city of Luxembourg, the kick-off of this year’s European Days of Jewish Culture was held, with the central theme of Dialogue.

In the event, the AEPJ and the Administration of Public Buildings installed a plaque that recalls the exact location of the first synagogue of Luxembourg, which occupied the premises of the former refuge of the sisters of Differdange from 1823 to 1894. This plaque marks the second step out of 30 on the Jewish heritage itinerary through the UNESCO zone “Luxembourg, old districts and fortifications”. The route can be followed with an audio guide on izi.travel or with a specially trained guide.

The launch of the Luxembourg route also marks its official integration into the European Routes of Jewish Heritage. 

The Annual Advisory Forum on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, which this year takes place in an online format, was inaugurated yesterday. The Forum is organized by the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (EPA) in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth of Georgia and Kutaisi City Municipality.

Within this framework, a meeting was held with representatives of all the cultural routes certified by the Council of Europe, with the participation of Assumpció Hosta, Secretary General of the AEPJ, and Victor Sorenssen, Director of the AEPJ.

The purpose of the meeting was to provide Cultural Routes representatives with a space to openly discuss cooperation, synergies, and topics of common interest, including the organisation of the 2022 Training Academy.

Over two Sundays in October, The Together Plan, AEPJ member in Beralus, are opening up their doors to welcome you to Zoymen, an exciting online event with a warm and friendly atmosphere and so much to explore.

Broaden your horizons and come on the journey – you won’t be disappointed. There is something for everyone with some fascinating opportunities to join the DIALOGUE which is this year’s theme of the European Days of Jewish Culture Festival taking place across the whole of Europe, and which Zoymen is a part of.

So what can you expect to discover at Zoymen…..? The event will open at midday BST on Sunday 10th October with a welcome session to set the scene for the event and from 13.00 event attendees will have a choice of sessions to attend at each time slot on the hour throughout the day.

Last Thursday, a new meeting of the FabRoute project was held.

The general objective of the project is to design a new training methodology and educational module aimed at fostering and enriching the knowledge and transversal competences of the staff members and operators of the EU Cultural Routes (CR) recognized by the Council of Europe, in order to improve CR management and promotion in the field of sustainable and cultural tourism. It was a very positive meeting.

We discussed the progress of the project, in particular the Intellectual Output IO1 – “Model Strategy to insert Cultural Routes within the cultural and touristic services system” developed by Center for Advanced Studies in Tourism – CAST – Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, we validated the model strategy for the management of the life of the Routes and we defined the future steps.

Home to an isolated part of the Jewish Diaspora for over two millennia, the Uzbek city of Bukhara is characterized by its traditional houses–exceptional representations of the woodworking craft developed by Bukharian Jews over centuries. Today, less than 200 Bukharian Jews remain in Bukhara’s old Jewish mahallah, and its traditional houses were included on the 2020 World Monuments Watch to raise awareness of the growing threats of disappearance and inappropriate alterations. With a small number of community members still in Bukhara, how can we ensure the documentation and protection of these unique examples of vernacular architecture? How can we design adequate standards for their conservation and adaptive reuse?

Join us on September 30 for an online discussion exploring how WMF’s project in Bukhara, launched in 2020 with the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS), can address these questions by using new digital technologies, community engagement, and knowledge exchange.