BLOOD: UNITING AND DIVIDING

November 2015 – February 2016
Jewish Museum London

Blood: Uniting and Dividing explored a central question: how have Jews defined themselves through blood, and how have they been defined by blood? The exhibition took visitors on a journey through thousands of years of history, from the rituals of the Hebrew bible to 21st century genetic science, presenting a cultural history of Jews and blood. Along the way it explored Christian theology, the myth of the Blood Libel, the history of racial science, eugenics, the Spanish Inquisition, the Nazi era and post-war developments in medicine. This was a complex and challenging exhibition which received critical acclaim in the national and international press.

The exhibition toured internationally. An expanded version of the exhibition at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw was nominated for the Polish national cultural event of the year.

​

Developed in collaboration with the Pears Institute for the study of Antisemitism, Birkbeck, University of London. Exhibition video tour here.

​

Images: Jewish Museum London/Ian Lillicrapp