Exhibition: 'Country Houses, Jewish Homes'
13-23 March, 2023
Launch of exhibition with lecture by the curators, Prof. Abigail Green and Marcus Robert: Sunday, 19 March, 5pm.
At the Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
Country houses are symbols of national identity, evoking the glamorous world of the landowning aristocracy. “Jewish” country houses tell a more complex story – of prejudice and integration, difference and belonging.
Our new exhibition Country Houses, Jewish Homes explores how Jews arrived in Britain, and fought for the right to acquire land and the political rights and social status that came with it. This was a society still structured by Christianity and dominated by the landed aristocracy. What did owning an English country house mean for immigrant Jewish families like the Rothschilds or the Sassoons? Was it easy to lead a Jewish life in the countryside? And what did those Jews who bought country houses both grand and small bring to the places they came to call home? From the early struggles for religious equality in Georgian Britain to the rise of modern political antisemitism and the tragedy of the Holocaust, this exhibition illuminates what it means to be British, and the changing place of both Jews and the country house in British life. This exhibition has been curated by Abigail Green and Marcus Roberts (JTrails), as part of the Jewish Country Houses project. For more information see [link to our website]
Exhibition will be open daily, Monday - Thursday, 12-2pm and by appointment
For more info or to visit the exhibition, privately or as a group, at your convenience, email: [email protected]
All are welcome!