The important photographic and audiovisual works presented at the event have been able to keep contributing to the awareness of the European Jewish heritage as an integral part of European history. As a result of transnational cultural and creative work, the leadership of the European Association for the Protection and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage (AEPJ) and guests from five European countries as well as representatives from four countries visited Tbilisi especially for this event.

At the opening on March 11 taking place at the im Museum of Contemporary Art, Sigrid Brettel, Head of Cooperation at EU Delegation in Georgia highlighted the importance of this innovative exhibition building bridges and connecting people from Georgia and all over the world.

The exhibition was realised with the fundamental support of Israeli House, one of Parallel Traces’ local partners, who promotes Jewish culture and heritage around Georgia. “One of the main activities of our organisations in Georgia is the promotion of cultural and historical values, […]. This is especially relevant in countries and cities with a long history, such as Georgia and Tbilisi, which are distinguished by multiculturalism, including samples of Jewish cultural heritage. It is a cultural code that is the key to a particular culture”, explained Itsik Moshe, Head of Israeli House. He also stressed the indispensable importance working actively with the Council of Europe, the Ministry of Culture and all the agencies that work to preserve and develop a unique cultural identity.

Elisso Bolkvadze, Member of Parliament of Georgia mentioned: “It is symbolic that this exhibition is hosted by Georgia, a country with a rich culture and cultural heritage, as well as a great Jewish cultural heritage.“ Bolkvadze also sheds light on Georgia as a “center of tourists’ attention from Israel and world Jewry”.

To sum it up in the words of Victor Sorenssen Project leader and Director of AEPJ: “Parallel Traces is a project that allows us, through the European Jewish heritage, to bring cultures, views, and celebrate our diversity, with a tool as revealing as audiovisual art”.

We were proud and happy to conclude our exhibitions tour with such a competent panel and engaged audience. And don’t forget that you have time until April 11th to visit! We are happy to welcome you !

The article explores CUMEDIAE’s vision and currents projects, highlighting its role in supporting the cultural and creative industry – in particular during the challenging times that we are experiencing.

Parallel Traces discovers, rethinks and raises awareness about the European Jewish Heritage as an integral part of European history through innovative ways of interaction.”

An aim that has been followed through lots of activities: an open call for artists, a traveling exhibition, an immersive app and, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the online campaign #MyParallelTraces. This has given the possibility to discover and share glimpses of jewish heritage while waiting for the project’s next activities.

Curious about what’s been discussed in the article? Read it here!

In the last few months the world faced an unprecedented emergency that impacted everybody’s life and plans. Parallel Traces wasn’t immune to this, but that didn’t stop us! This moment created an interesting occasion to rethink our activities and create new ways to promote Jewish Heritage all around Europe. In April we launched the #MyParallelTraces campaign, collecting dozens of beautiful pictures and reflections capturing the essence of our project. We were very happy to see such an active and engaged community, sharing personal insights and contributing to a new outlook on the Jewish urban landscape.

Our journey is still on, and we can’t wait to show you what’s next! Stay with us to keep exploring the world of our artists, travel around our partner cities, discover new fantastic exhibitions and as always, rediscover traces of Jewish Heritage around Europe. We have a lot in store for you!

Jewish Culture has a long, millennial history: as Rosa and Victor explain, the purpose of the project is to promote this heritage directly to the local community, in order to strenghten the connections with the story and the values of these sites. Rosa gives also an insight on our past exhibitions and on the  artworks created by the guest artists. She explains their creative process and the relation with their cities.

Curious? Check the video and our online gallery to have a virtual experience of the exhibitions. If you’re close to Girona, you still have the opportunity to see the exhibition at the Museum of Jewish History of Girona until December!

Even with the temporary suspension of the exhibitions, we have had the opportunity to remember and get to know places, moments and stories thanks to your participation. Since April, when we launched #MyParallelTraces campaign, we have received dozens of your digital postcards, each with a picture of Jewish Heritage and a story or a personal reflection.

Atskuri (Georgia), Jewish cemetery.

You gave us the opportunity to see neighborhoods and synagogues, houses and ancient cemeteries: all traces of a vast heritage, tangible and intangible, spread through the whole Europe, from Barcelona to Vittorio Veneto, from Wrocław to Kotor.

Every place has a different story to tell: some postcards mention grandparents and other relatives, others quote poetry or religious texts, others yet are strictly related to the historical context, from old traditions to dramatic events.

Barcelona, Sant Felip Neri Square.

Thanks to you #MyParallelTraces has become a big collective gallery that we would love to see further grow: check the pictures and keep sending your postcards here!

During this difficult time, where exhibitions and museums are closed, we want to continue explore the Jewish Heritage sites around Europe in a very original and interactive way.

#MyParallelTraces is an interactive platform where you can share your digital postcards of Jewish Heritage sites that are closed to your heart by filling in a form with a short description and a personal reflection about the site. All your pictures will be published on our website as a gallery and the best ones also on social media!

It is very easy to participate! Please visit our #MyParallelTraces website for all the information on how to participate to the new campaign.

To guarantee everybody’s safety and to comply with regulations in place, Parallel Traces too made the decision to postpone its planned exhibitions. But Parallel Traces will continue supporting and promoting Jewish Heritage around EU, as always and more!

While you #StayHome, discover our past exhibitions and explore the artworks created by our Guest Artists and contest winners. And you still haven’t tried the Parallel Traces App? It’s free and easy to use! Through our innovative application you are guided around Girona, Wroclaw, Belgrade, Sighet and Tbilisi with an interactive map to continue discovering Jewish Heritage even from home.

Keep following us, much more is about to come!

ESJF started its work in 2015, surveying and fencing Jewish cemeteries in order to protect them from destruction, and to date it has protected 123 sites in seven countries across Central and Eastern Europe.

Their new project, co-funded by the European Union, aims at mapping Jewish cemeteries in Europe, surveying  1,500 cemeteries in five countries (Greece, Lithuania, Moldova, Slovakia, and Ukraine), using cutting-edge drone technology. It will explore good examples of their successful preservation and valorisation and proposing a model for their safeguarding in the future, also with the involvement of local communities and authorities, residents, schools, youth organisations through educational activities to ensure sustainability and success of the project.
Information collected is being uploaded and hosted on the project’s website, and includes aerial photo, historical and geographical data, and cemetery threat assessment – providing a public and accessible database of Jewish cemeteries in Europe.

If you want to know more about the project, its relevance and work, you can explore ESJF website and the project’s website!

The conference was held by the organization of the “Creative Europe” Georgia office and supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia. Within the framework of the conference, Creative European Beneficiaries shared their experience of participating in the EU program, as well as the professionals of the culture and audiovisual sector interested in the program. Parallel Traces Project raised interest among the guests and got positive feedback.

Israeli House is a unique project that serves as a platform to achieve solidarity by public diplomacy and enhance the cooperation between Israel and friendly states, as well as to create a positive image of Israel by open disclosure of the Israeli Government’s policies. It opened in Tbilisi in 2013 and since then regularly holds lectures, meetings, exhibitions, presentations, introductory seminars about achievements of Israel in various spheres – cultural, economic, business, medicine, new technologies, political life, etc.

​Israeli House is member of European Alliance for Israeli (EAI) and The European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage (AEPJ), which is working under the auspices of Council of Europe.

In the framework of Parallel Traces project, Israeli House of Tbilisi, together with the other local partners, will curate the local competition of digital artwork about the Jewish Heritage and subsequently organize the art exhibition in Tbilisi.

Victor Sorenssen, director of the AEPJ, and Stefanie Thomas, Project Manager of CUMEDIAE have jointly presented the “Parallel Traces: A new lens on Jewish Heritage” at the panel dedicated to the strategies to ensure sustainability of funded projects. Along with the general overview, objectives and impacts of “Parallel Traces”, the speakers shared their successful experience of developing the strategies of audience engagement used for this particular project. In fact, by combining the stakeholders’ networks, local communities, social media and new augmented reality application, the project can disseminate information on different levels, covering thus a wide range of target audience and effectively spreading its values. The presentation raised a lot of interest among the participating public and encouraged a very suggestive debate on new models of approach to heritage and the key role played by this type of projects in today’s Europe.

Jewish heritage issues were also raised during the UNESCO meetings of the conference. The president of the AEPJ, Francois Moyse shed light on different Jewish heritage sites, synagogues, cemeteries, mikvaot, historically contextualizing the Jewish presence in Luxembourg, one of the partner cities of the project.