The Jewish Museum of Belgium invites you to discover “Les Guerrières de la Paix”, a documentary directed by Hanna Assouline and Jessica Bertaux in 2018.


In 2014, Israeli and Palestinian women decided to create an informal movement: Women Wage Peace. These women came together around a demand as simple as it was terribly audacious: that their leaders meet again around a negotiating table. In 2018, there are now tens of thousands of them, from all political backgrounds and origins. They are the warriors of peace.



Through this film and her recent speeches, Hanna Assouline strives to propose a humanist path, “without slogan nor flag”, to transcend the various antagonistic narratives at play and bring everyone together beyond their respective reactionary opinions.

This kind of apolitical approach presented in the documentary is often misunderstood and interpreted as ignoring the complexity of reality. We will examine its properties and relevance. Together we will question the essence of the word “peace”, the evocation of which now frequently arises suspicion and polemics, in order to understand how to restore its unifying character.



Program :

Doors open 6:30pm

Screening of the film “Les Guerrières de la Paix” at 7:00 pm

Meeting with Hanna Assouline at 8:00 pm, hosted by Sarah Halfin.

Come and (re)discover Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, at the Jewish Museum of Belgium with your family on Sunday, December 10, 2022 from 11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.

While parents are guided by exhibition director Bruno Benvindo through the Erwin Blumenfeld exhibition, children will enjoy a special Hanukkah craft workshop with our cultural mediator!

We’ll then light the fourth Hanukkah candle together, telling you the story of the Maccabim revolt and the miracle that took place in Jerusalem’s temple in the second century BC.

11 a.m. Guided tour and children’s workshop – with Barbara Cuglietta and Audrey Elbaum

12pm Candle-lighting ceremony, Hanukkah songs

12:30 traditional doughnut tasting

Admission: 12 euros / adult, free for children.

Registration by e-mail to events@mjb-jmb.org

Image : ארכיון השומר הצעיר יד יערי – Hashomer Hatzair Archives Yad Yaari

License : Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic

…and then there was EVE is a one woman performative concert, embodied by Jeanna Criscitiello stems from a larger artistic practice that explores feminism and identity. A multi-voiced anti-hero EVE’s inner and outer voice are unfiltered and contradictory and become acts of resistance towards oversimplification of the human experience.

 … and then there was EVE performs a collection of EVE heroes from multiple perspectives through invited participants asked to name a personal heroine and identify an object — book, work of art, photograph, and so on — representative of that figure.

New narratives were created by mixing hard fact, intimate confession and the poetics of story-telling. Reinvention, metamorphosis and transmission are reoccurring themes that play a central role in the creation of a feminine archetype with multiple voices – EVE.

In the framework of the exhibition Four Sisters at The Jewish Museum of Belgium, Jeanna Criscitiello will perform a thirty minute selection of her EVE heroes with a highlight on Chantal Akerman’s, Jeanne Dielman. A detailed study of Dielman’s hand gestures that span the three hour opus has been condensed into a seven minute fragment performed on stage and set against an original music composition which is as repetitive and physically exhausting as the endless loop of mundane chores that lead to Dielman’s catastrophic unraveling.

Jeanna Criscitiello’s fascination with facts and fictions that become woven realities is the basis of this performance.

Program :

3:30 pm: Doors open

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm: “Four Sisters” guided tour with Yann Chateigné Tytelmans

5:00 pm – 5:30 pm: Performance EVE

5:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Talk with Jeanna Criscitiello and Barbara Cuglietta

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Drink

Price: 10 euros (+ free admission to the “Four Sisters” exhibition)

Tribute to the victims of the SamudaripenOn August 2, 2023, the Jewish Museum of Belgium will pay homage to the victims of the Samudaripen genocide by the Nazis of Roma/Manouches/Sintis/Travellers in Europe.

In collaboration with the ESMA-Carrefour des cultures association, the Jewish Museum of Belgium is organizing a commemoration event on the occasion of the “European Day of Remembrance of the Roma Genocide”, on Wednesday August 2, 2023 at 2:30 p.m. Two conferences will take place: Génocide des Roms : des sources du racisme au génocide nazi by Olivier Bonny (Esma-Carrefour des cultures) and a presentation of research and collection of testimonies and interviews in Eastern countries – by Costel Nastasie of Dignité Rom. The commemoration will be followed with a concert of Balkan Roma style music by Eleonora Mustafovska (singing), Simeon Atanasov (composition, accordion) and  Muhi (keyboards) (40 minutes)

Program :

Reception from 2 p.m.

Lectures at 2:30 p.m.

Concert from 3:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Farewell drink

Free of charge, reservation required via edu@mjb-jmb.org with mention Commemoration August 2

Image : Memorial fort he murdered Roma and Sinti (Berlin) © Olivier Bonny

The Jewish Museum of Belgium invites you to discover a short film directed by Sarah Lederman, which draws its inspiration from the work of filmmaker Chantal Akerman, one of the artists featured in the “Four Sisters” exhibition.

Les Racines de l’eau (synopsis) : Two women, one Ashkenazi Jew from Poland and one Sephardic Jew from Algeria meet in Brussels with the same quest: to find out what their Jewish identity means to them. Their biggest desire is to undergo the water ritual called Mikveh. But they are not welcome in a bath house, being neither married nor orthodox. Nonetheless, they try to claim their heritage on a road trip and own their Judaism. 

Program : 

Doors open at 6:30pm 

Film screening from 7:00 pm 

Talk with Shabbes 24/7 Collective and Samuel Kujas (director of IMAJ) from 7:45 pm

Light Dinner from 8:30  pm to 10 pm 

Price: 10 euros (+ free admission to the “Four Sisters” exhibition)

free for students

“Mirror effect: I am all this, piece by piece. I go out through every pore. I am crossed, invaded, dispossessed. And yet, in this thin skin, I grow, I am alive.” (Marianne Berenhaut)

In Private Collection / Vie Privée, choreographer/performer Ula Sickle invites the audience to explore the exhibition “Four Sisters” through the materiality of the Poupées-Poubelles – transparent nylon tights filled with textiles and everyday objects – made by artist Marianne Berenhaut.

In 1969, a fall of more than four metres left Marianne Berenhaut bedridden for over a year. The accident became an opportunity to question and reinvent her artistic practice: no longer able to engage in large-scale physical productions, it was with the Poupées-Poubelles that she returned to a production that resonated with the demands of feminist thought to which she was close.

For this performance, Ula Sickle invited Sabrina Seifried and Joëlle Laederach to develop a series of wearable pieces in natural latex, a mutable material known for its healing, protective and sensual properties.

The performer Katja Dreyer personifies the Poupées-Poubelles, which she embodies by wearing these clothing creations in a choreography developed by Ula Sickle.

Program :

3:30 p.m.: Doors open

4:00 pm : Start of the performance

16h30 – 17h30 : Talk with Yann Chataigné, Marianne Berenhaut and Ula Sickle (EN)

5:30 pm : Performance

18h00 : Drink

Price: 10 euros (+ free access to the “Four Sisters” exhibition)

It is common knowledge that war photography is a profession often dominated by men. Julia Pirotte however, like many women photographers, has also worked in war zones. The Polish photographer of Jewish origin, documented the resistance in Marseille during World War II, Jewish families in the internment camp of Bompard and the Kielce Pogrom. Throughout these conflict territories, women often had access to families and children, Julia in particular made it a point to render these moving portraits. Her images played a decisive role in shaping war imagery. By highlighting Julia Pirotte’s photographs and journey, Bruna Lo Biundo, Caroline François and Maja Wolny tell us the specificity of female gaze on war and show us that women are as much transmitters of images as witnesses of war atrocities. The conference will also explore how other women she met along the way have contributed to her work.

The conference will be held in FR/EN
The speakers are : Maja Wolny, Bruna Lo Biundo, Caroline François
Program :
Opening of the doors 18:00
Beginning of the conference 18h30
Drink at 19h30/20h

With the support of the Polish Institute in Brussels

During the Nocturnes, the Jewish Museum will be more than ever a space for encounter and dialogue. In addition to its permanent exhibition on Jewish religion and culture, the museum hosts two temporary exhibitions. Four sisters combines the works of Chantal Akerman, Marianne Berenhaut, Sarah Kaliski and Julia Pirotte, all four women, artists, Jews, and custodians of a memory. 236. Land(es)capes of the 20th Convoy offers, through the photographs of Jo Struyven and the paintings of Luc Tuymans, an artistic look at an exceptional episode in the history of the Second World War. On April 19, 1943, thanks to resistance actions, 236 deportees managed to jump from the train that was taking them to Auschwitz.

More information

WORKSHOP Want to discover Judaism? What rituals and practices are part of Jewish family life? In this workshop on Jewish cultures, the aim is to build bridges, to show the commonalities between cultures and their enriching differences. The workshop is for all audiences, regardless of their background and beliefs. 

→ 18:00 (NL) / 19:30 (FR) – Limited places Please send an e-mail to edu@mjb-jmb.org with your name, the number of people you wish to register, the language of the activity and name of the activity.

WORKSHOP The last survivors of the Holocaust share their personal stories with you, documented by the Museum’s archives. A unique and exceptional opportunity to get to know someone who survived the Holocaust and who will explain why bearing witness is still necessary today. 

→ 17:30 (FR) / 19:30 (FR) –Limited places Please send an e-mail to edu@mjb-jmb.org with your name, the number of people you wish to register, the language of the activity and name of the activity.

On March 19, 2023 at 5:00 pm, the Union des Etudiants Juifs de Belgique, the MerKaz and the Musée Juif de Belgique will have the pleasure of receiving sociologist Illana Weizman on the occasion of the publication of her latest book “Des blancs comme les autres?” dealing with the blind spot that the fight against antisemitism represents within the anti-racist world.

A panel of speakers from Jewish and anti-racist associations will follow IIlana Weizman’s presentation to discuss her book. We will publish their names on the event in the next few days.

It is a fact that in today’s Jewish communities, there is a prevailing feeling that the fight against antisemitism is the most overlooked aspect of anti-racist campaigns. The loneliness that those involved in the fight against antisemitism too often face or, quite simply, the frequent lack of understanding of the antisemitic phenomenon in anti-racist circles are all elements that reinforce this feeling.

Faced with this observation, the speakers and the audience will discuss several major questions: Why is antisemitism sidelined in anti-racist struggles? How can we rehabilitate the fight against antisemitism and the inclusion of this fight in the anti-racist movement? How can we renew the collaboration between activist organizations and Jewish communities?

This event will be in French.

La frontière entre réalité et fiction est souvent floue. Les institutions démocratiques sont sous pression et les charges de travail grandissantes laissent peu de temps à la réflexion et à l’action. Ces préoccupations semblent contemporaines, mais il y a plus de 50 ans, Hannah Arendt écrivait déjà abondamment sur ce sujet. Aujourd’hui, les idées d’Arendt ont encore gagné en importance, voilà pourquoi nous organisons cette série de conférences avec d’éminents experts de la pensée de cette grande philosophe. A travers ce cycle, nous nous concentrerons sur un thème à la fois actuel et intemporel, et, osons-le dire, arendtien: l’identité. 

Qu’est-ce que l’identité ? En quoi est-elle si importante ? Au cours de ces conférences, à travers échanges et conversations, le travail et la vision d’Arendt seront analysés et étudiés. Nous verrons comment intégrer sa pensée dans notre réalité actuelle et essayer ainsi de mieux comprendre le concept d’identité, et la réflexion qui l’entoure.

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Hannah Arendt Lecture 1

Quel enseignement Hannah Arendt nous apporte-t-elle sur l’identité ? Comment concevait-elle son identité propre?  sa judéité ? le fait qu’elle soit femme ? mais aussi comment voyait-elle le concept au sens plus large d’identité ? 

La femme proche de Heidegger voyait sans doute l’identité différemment de celle qui fuyait les persécutions durant la guerre, ou encore de celle qui relatait le procès Eichmann à Jérusalem. Nous tenterons de faire cette distinction, de voir comment sa pensée évolue à travers les événements qui ont ponctué sa vie. 

Intervenants : Geert Van Eekert (N) et Martine Leibovici (F) 
Modération : Tinneke Beeckman (N/F)

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Informations pratiques

Date et heure : Mardi 19 avril 2022 de 19h00 à 20h30, suivi d’une réception.

Lieu : Musée juif de Belgique, Rue des Minimes 21, 1000 Bruxelles
Tramways : 92, 8 – Bus : 27, 48, 95 – Métro : Louise – Train : Bruxelles-Central

Entrée : 10 euros, gratuit pour les étudiants et les personnes à faibles revenus.

Langue : Les intervenants s’expriment dans leur langue maternelle. La conversation alterne entre le néerlandais et le français. Il n’y a pas d’interprétation simultanée.