Sara Berman's Closet
April 5 - September 1, 2019
Sara Berman’s Closet, a small and monumental story, is a powerful and intimate exploration of independence, identity, feminism,
family, time, immigration, memory, joy, and courage. It speaks to the universal
pursuit of meaning and beauty, from the monumental to the mundane. Sara’s daughter and grandson, celebrated artist
Maira Kalman and curator Alex Kalman, have re-created Sara’s meticulous and
quirky closet as an homage to stories everyday belongings carry. NMAJH has
invited the Kalmans, who have been featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and The New Yorker, to create an outdoor installation of Sara’s closet,
positioned across from Independence Mall, where it puts Sara’s story on par
with the surrounding monuments to our country’s founding fathers. Additionally,
the Kalmans blend art, history, and memory to explore Sara’s journey from
Belarus to Tel Aviv to NYC in NMAJH’s 5th floor gallery through
original paintings, text, and ephemera.
Image: Cover of Sara Berman's Closet by Maira and Alex Kalman. Illustrations by Maira Kalman. Design by Alex Kalman. Harper Collins, 2018
Sara Berman’s Closet, an exhibition by Maira and Alex Kalman, will be on display at the National Museum of American Jewish History on Independence Mall with generous support provided by Amanda and Glenn Fuhrman. Major support provided by Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan, Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer and Joseph Neubauer, and Erving and Joyce Wolf Foundation. Additional support provided by the Kraus Family Foundation; The Streisand Foundation; Jane and Leonard Korman; Sharon Pinkenson and Joseph Weiss; and Laurie Wagman in Memory of Irvin Borowsky. (in formation)
For information on past special exhibitions, visit Past Exhibitions.