A peek into the new Sydney Jewish Museum
Early next year, work will start on the redevelopment of the Sydney Jewish Museum, a project for which the Labor government has granted $8.5 million.
Image: Courtesy Architectus.
The new building, expected to open its doors early in 2007, will house a new Museum for Contemporary Jewish Life and Tolerance alongside the Holocaust Museum.
A spokesperson said: The expanded museum will be equipped with new exhibitions and education programs to raise awareness of social responsibilities and to build empathy in a world where antisemitism, intolerance and hate speech are on the rise. We have all witnessed an increasing number of distressing antisemitic incidents in recent weeks here in Sydney, as well as elsewhere in Australia.
SJM is Australia’s leading Holocaust education museum, established in 1992 by Holocaust survivors to re-tell their stories of survival to ensure these horrors never happen again.
Currently, 55,000 visit SJM each year to encounter powerful messages from Holocaust survivors about the importance of empathy, and the dangers of racism and hate. This number includes 35,000 school students. Since SJM opened, over 850,000 school students have visited SJM to hear Holocaust survivor testimonies and partake in specialist education programs.
The spokesperson added: “In recent years, Australia has experienced an unprecedented rise in antisemitism, as evidenced by the rise of far-right extremist groups and conspiracy theorists. This rise in antisemitism has beenexacerbated more recently by the rise of tensions in the Middle East, particularly since October 7 last year.
SJM recognises the growing and critical need to tackle antisemitism, racism and hate speech in Australia, and to increase the scale at which this is done. To do this, SJM requires new
education facilities and exhibition galleries. These new facilities and programs are being designed to offer Sydneysiders and all Australians opportunities to build an understanding of who Jewish people are, and their contributions to Australia’s multicultural society.
The expansion project will aim to attract nearly twice as many visitors by 2032, growing from 55,000 to 100,000 a year.”
The Museum’s redevelopment has the support of both major Federal parties, the member for Wentworth, Allegra Spender MP. In March 2023, and the Minn’s NSW State Government.
Museum President Greg Shand said: “Since its founding over thirty years ago, the Museum has sought to inform and educate visitors about the Holocaust, as well as about Jewish life and culture. The Holocaust survivors who, in many cases, have volunteered at the Museum since its inception, have dedicated their lives to telling their stories with the aim of ensuring that the tragedy of the Holocaust is never to be repeated. The upsurge in antisemitism, in the last year and even in the last few days, only serves to highlight the importance of the Museum seeking to double its impact by doubling the number that visit annually. The support from both major parties highlights the significance and importance of this project. It signals that racism and antisemitism have no place in our society, and that the vision of our survivors will live on well into the future.”
Chief Executive Office, Kevin Sumption added: “This museum expansion project will allow us to create 11 new exhibition galleries allowing us to expand our storytelling to do justice to the diverse and expansive set of stories that celebrate the vibrancy of Jewish history, identity and culture, over the last 3,500 years. These will be specially designed to encourage lifelong learning about Jewish Life, traditions and contributions to modern Australia. Alongside the development of new galleries, the expert museum team are developing new education programs. These will respond to contemporary needs of students and teachers, particularly to new Holocaust studies, which will be compulsory in NSW from 2027 onwards. We welcome the support from the Federal Government, as it greatly helps us to modernise and ensure the Museum encourages greater social cohesion.”
