Radical Jewish Culture

"Radical Jewish Culture" is an avant-garde Jewish music movement that developed in the New York underground scene at the beginning of the 1990s. Musicians such as John Zorn, David Krakauer, Marc Ribot, Anthony Coleman, and Frank London passionately explored the possibilities for a new form of Jewish music, emancipating themselves from conformity and inconspicuousness. Their music blended free jazz forms with klezmer improvisations, experimental music with rock, blues, and punk. The exhibition "Radical Jewish Culture" presents this music scene through audiovisual documents, lots of music samples, and primarily unpublished material.

An exciting musical program accompanies the exhibition: In the concert series "New Voices in Jewish Music," the museum and the jazz bassist Greg Cohen present contemporary Jewish music, starting on 4 May with the Polish "Bester Quartet" and the New York singers "Mycale". Three documentary films in the Monday Movies series enable visitors to become better acquainted with the "Radical Jewish Culture" protagonists.