Art and the Jews of Morocco

A I M E R Y S O M O G Y F O N D AT E U R
A I M E R Y S O M O G Y F O N D AT E U R
PRESS RELEASE
Katharine TURVEY
SERVICE DE PRESSE
01 48 05 04 44
Although the traditions and the history of the Jewish people of Morocco
are exceptionally rich and ancient, the artistry of the Moroccan Jews has
yet to be the object of rigorous study and research, until now.
k . t u r v e y @ s o m o g y. f r
André Goldenberg
Art and the Jews of Morocco
André Goldenberg
Anthropologist, specialist of Jewish
society and the material culture of
Morocco
Author of a number of volumes on
Jewish and Muslim popular cultures in
Morocco
EAN / ISBN 9782757208939
Bound with dustjacket, 39 €
24,6 x 28 cm / 240 pages / 488 images
Available in February 2015
This book has received the generous
support of the Jardin Majorelle
Foundation
For centuries, the artistry of the Jewish community
in Morocco has flourished - as much in urban areas
as in the countryside - in metalwork, manuscripts,
silks, wool, leather, woodwork. Often, this creativity
has given birth to exceptional works that showcase
the talent and originality of artists and artisans who
have nonetheless remained anonymous.
Originally from Morocco, André Goldenberg is an
ethnologist who has devoted a significant part of
his life to collecting the art of the Jews of Morocco,
artefacts that show a unique artistic perspective
and an extremely fine artistic quality.
The extraordinary collection of objects assembled
in this volume reveals the multiple facets of the art of
Moroccan Jews, while the meticulous research that
accompanies the catalogue promises to preserve
this culture for future generations. This richly
illustrated book constitutes an imaginary museum,
carefully detailing hundreds of masterpieces of
Jewish Moroccan art gathered from public and
private collections in Morocco and abroad.
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A I M E R Y S O M O G Y F O N D AT E U R
The Author
Born in Marrakesh, André Goldenberg grew up in a Jewish community that
was coloured by French and Moroccan influences. His father was a teacher
in the local school run by the Alliance Israelite Universelle, and his mother was
a member of an established Jewish family from Essaouira. He was educated
at the local French Lycée.
After a long career in the French public service in Morocco, André Goldenberg
pursued his studies in anthropology at the Sorbonne. Having established
close ties with a group of French ethnologists studying Morocco, Goldenberg
began amassing an archival collection that would serve as the base material
for his doctoral work.
After completing his first book, Juifs du Maroc, images et textes (1984),
Goldenberg focussed his research on the artistic and symbolic features
of Moroccan material culture, publishing a number of titles on the subject,
including: Bijoux du Maroc, depuis le temps des Juifs jusqu’à la fin du XXe
siècle (1999); Bestiaire de la culture populaire musulmane et juive au Maroc
(2000); Arts et cultures du Maroc (2004).
In spite the upheavals that have resulted in the mass immigration of the
Moroccan Jews in recent decades, Goldenberg has remained closely
attached to his roots. As a first-hand witness of this cultural dispersal,
Goldenberg has made it his mission to represent a broad panorama of the
most remarkable artefacts of Moroccan Jewish material culture.
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