The Last Europeans
Jewish Perspectives on the Crises of an Idea
What was “Project Europe” and what has become of it? And what will become of it? Has the European Union drifted apart even further in times of alarming global challenges instead of moving closer together? Are national interests increasingly pitted against European solutions?
Against the background of these questions we look at Jewish individuals who in the face of Europe’s devastation in the 20th century transcended national and cultural borders, demanded anew the universal application of human rights, and vigorously pursued a European dream. Based on their commitment to a united and peaceful Europe, the exhibition examines at the same time the renewed threats.
The museum shall become the site of an open debate about the future of Europe, the actual and ideational substance of the European Union, about threats and opportunities, about future-oriented and outdated concepts. Here, it will be possible to argue about European Enlightenment as well as about its offspring: secularization and modernity, emancipation and participation, nationalism and chauvinism, colonialism, and capitalism.
Curators: Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek, Michaela Feurstein-Prasser (Vienna)
Project management: Hanno Loewy (Hohenems)
Exhibition architecture: Martin Kohlbauer (Vienna)
Graphic design: Atelier Stecher (Götzis) Adaptation for Graz: look! design (Graz)
Project management Graz Museum: Ogül Büber-Ottitsch (Graz)
An exhibition of the Jewish Museum Hohenems at the Graz Museum.
