The Holocaust and Wars: Curating in Israel

The curator’s role in displaying a variety of articles is often overlooked or minimized. In this paper, we will analyze the curating experience in a rather segregated setting: the historical museums. There is a poignant motive in selecting a venue that does not even display, for the most part, objects of art, but instead, is focused on articles of history. To organize the thematic arrangements of these in a sensible and instructive manner requires the highest of curatorial attributes. In this particular article, we are restricting our scope to museums in the state of Israel. The discussion covers the category called War Museums. Because of unusual and localized circumstances, in Israel, there are two distinct types of war museums: Holocaust-related and those intertwined with particular episodes of wars and conflict. It is also understood that he who owns the prize, does what he wants with it -- meaning the museum “owner” is the primal curator. The specifics are concentrated in war museums located in Israel.