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Opening Day for GOLEM: A Call to Action

Thursday, June 24, 2021 | 11am–5pm

ADMISSION: Free and open to the public

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2021-06-24 11:00:00 UTC2021-06-24 23:00:00 UTC America/Los_AngelesThe CJM - 736 Mission St, San Francisco, CAOpening Day for GOLEM: A Call to ActionIn honor of the Summer Solstice and the opening of GOLEM: A Call to Action, attend The CJM's celebration of art, community, and the land we inhabit by enjoying free Museum admission all day long.

In honor of the Summer Solstice and the opening of GOLEM: A Call to Action, attend our celebration of art, community, and the land we inhabit by enjoying free Museum admission all day long.

GOLEM: A Call to Action, by artist Julie Weitz, is the inaugural exhibition in our Black Box Gallery—a new, dedicated space for media art at The Contemporary Jewish Museum (The CJM). Drawing on Jewish allegory, folklore, and spiritual practice, Weitz’s video artworks, My Golem as a Wildland Firefighter and Prayer for Burnt Forests, examine the causes and impacts of megafires, an increasingly devastating aspect of life in California. These works explore progressive wildfire management, including controlled burns—a method long used by California’s Indigenous communities—alongside the Jewish imperative of tikkun olam (to heal the world), calling on all of us to uphold the land’s right to rest and recuperation.

Plus, with free general admission to The Museum, don’t miss your chance to experience all of the exhibitions on view! Explore the mysterious photography of Predicting the Past: Zohar Studios, The Lost Years in its final days before it closes on June 27. Discover the story of the birth of the blue jean in Levi Strauss: A History of American Style, closing August 8, and learn about nineteenth-century Jewish life in San Francisco through textiles in Threads of Jewish Life, closing June 27.

Tickets

Book your free ticket today! All visitors are strongly encouraged to book tickets online in advance to facilitate a contactless visit to The Museum.

About the Exhibition

GOLEM: A Call to Action is a digital exhibition in three parts by Los Angeles–based artist Julie Weitz, comprising three video artworks—Golem v. Golem, My Golem as a Wildland Firefighter, and Prayer for Burnt Forests—that draw on Jewish allegory, folklore, and spiritual practice to confront societal and ecological disasters. The legend of the golem originates as far back as the Middle Ages, when Jewish mystics imagined the creation of a clay humanoid as a meditative technique for becoming closer to God. By the nineteenth century, popular Yiddish folktales characterized the golem as a helper, companion, or rescuer of an imperiled Jewish community. In this exhibition, Weitz revitalizes golem mythology to frame a moral imperative for action on the social and ecological issues we face today. 

An image of My Golem running along a dirt path, with a large evergreen tree in the background.

Image Credit

Header image: My Golem as a Wildland Firefighter (PSA), film still 2, 2020

Exhibition image: Prayer for Burnt Forests (4), archival inkjet print, 2021. Photo: Aaron Farley