Paul Salmona, Director of the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme (MAHJ)

 By Fiona Scott-Lazareff

20 March 2015

The Museum of Art and History of Judaism is an unusual institution that was founded a mere 15 years ago. It has a magnificent permanent collection, in a beautiful 17th-century town mansion, in the heart of the Marais, in Paris. It's a fabulous opportunity to discover Jewish rituals and religious practices from medieval times until today. 

Photo: Paul Allain

“The museum also focuses on the history of Judaism in Europe, especially in France and North Africa, because many communities in France have their roots there, moving to France after the declaration of independence,” says Paul Salmona, director of the museum.

"We  are proud of our exhibitions: we have two big ones a year. We also provide children with a dynamic educative method, with approximately 10,000  children coming  a year with their teachers, to learn about  topics such as tolerance and anti-semitism in our  magnificent auditorium which is also used  for concerts and conferences about  literature, philosophy and history. For a museum our size (with approximately 1,000 square meters of permanent exhibition space), we  are  amongst the leaders in terms of  providing  the most dynamic activities in Paris. I like to compare us with the auditorium of the Musée du Louvre, with which I am very familiar, because  I was in charge of it for 13 years. The Musée du Louvre  has about  60,000 square meters of  permanent exhibition space and a 400-place auditorium, compared to our museum which has only 1,000 square meters of permanent exhibition space  and an auditorium which seats 200."

The museum has between  100,000 and 150,000 visitors a year, though it depends a lot on the lure of temporary exhibitions. "The number of visitors to our permanent exhibition is quite consistent and more than half of them are foreign especially Anglo-Saxon: Americans, English, Australians and New Zealanders. "We also have a lot of Israeli tourists.  We have one of the most original Jewish collections in the world. Unlike most of the other collections which are restricted to  a certain period or geographical area, such as the museum in Amsterdam, which focuses on the life of Dutch Jews from the Middle Ages to nowadays and the museum in Berlin which is all about  Judaism in Germany, our collection is much more encyclopedic, more general." explains Salmona.

The building itself has an interesting story behind it too. "This hôtel particulier  (town mansion), was the home of numerous immigrants, most of them Jews, from eastern and central Europe. Before it was renovated,  it was divided up into small workshops and flats". he explains.  On your visit you will can see photos (under the staircase) which show the building with lots of different signs for things like; hat makers, furriers and so on. "So the fact these buildings now host a Jewish museum has historical relevance." says Salmona.

"Our collection is quite unique, starting with its origin: the core of it is the collection put together in the 19th century by the great-grandfather of Claude Levi-Strauss, the famous anthropologist and ethnologist. He was typical of the successful, assimilated and french jew. He built a collection regrouping Jewish exhibits from the whole of Europe, but coming mainly from Germany and Italy. When he died,  his collection was bought by  Baronne  Danielle de  Rothschild, who offered it to the state, and it was then exhibited in the Musée de Cluny at the beginning of the  20th century. This core collection belongs to the national collection and is recorded in the Musée de Cluny's inventory, but they have made it available to us" says Salmona. "There are also a few extremely rare medieval tombstones which were found in the mid 19th century in a  cemetery close to the intersection of Boulevard Saint Germain and Boulevard Saint Michel. They are some of the rare traces we have of the numerous medieval Jewish communities that flourished in France before the anti-semitic expulsions during the 14th century. A third collection was put together by Jewish survivors of the Second World War and became the Museum of Jewish Art on the Rue de Saules, before merging with  our museum in 1999."

Last year, the MAHJ lent approximately 80 works to French and foreign museums. The  “Gotlib” exhibition travelled to Vienna and is presently in Brussels. And of course the museum borrows itself.

When asked if Salmona has a favourite Jewish museum, he replies: "Difficult question. I am quite fond of the Amsterdam Historical Jewish Museum because it's  in a former  synagogue, which means we can enjoy its collection  as well as  the architecture and decor of an  ancient synagogue, which I find have an important emotional value."

Salmona's work has been linked to museums  for over 30  years:  "Even though I started off as a ceramist, I quickly began working for cultural institutions; I started working in museums in 1985, then became the director of the Musée du Louvre's auditorium for 13 years. I found this position extremely exhilarating, and I learned a lot about French and foreign museums, history of art and archeology, music and films... because of the number of cultural activities that were planned there. Being director of the  Musée de Louvre's auditorium in some way provided me with the intensive training needed to become a museum director. I then became  interested in archeology and worked for eight years in an archeological institution. During this period I started focusing on medieval Jewish archeology, which turned out to be one of the major reasons why I was chosen to be director of this museum as they were looking for a candidate who had a good knowledge of museums,  a fascination for Judaism, which I had had since my childhood, and who was particularly interested in medieval Judaism.

Before I leave I ask if Salmona can recommend Diventonians any typical french restaurants close to the museum?

"I highly recommend the bakeries on the Rue des Rosiers, if you are looking for a cheap and traditional Jewish meal. There is also a very nice place called Chez Marianne where the Rue des Rosiers intersects the Rue des Hospitalieres Saint Gervais. This area of Paris is still strongly marked by the Parisian Jewish community."

And as for his favourite museum: "It's a minuscule municipal museum at Villeneuve-lès-Avignon called Musée Pierre de Luxembourg that once served as the Pope’s summer residence. It has one of the biggest 15th-century french paintings, The Coronation of the Virgin, which is the only painting in the museum and has a whole room devoted to it. As well as the original contract, specifying the order and what the painter was meant to achieve,  it’s interesting to see what was imposed on the painter (angels, Jerusalem and Rome, heaven and hell…) and how this artist managed to respect the order. I also find it extraordinarily refreshing to enter a museum and see only one painting."