At a time when Israeli cultural institutions are facing boycotts abroad and mounting international pressure, and Israeli artists have become persona non grata overseas, a welcome new partnership is taking shape: Beit Avi Chai has signed a landmark multi-year partnership with Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK), one of the world's largest cultural heritage organizations.
The partnership will bring Jewish history and culture from the collections of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation to international audiences through Beit Avi Chai's documentary series, "Let Objects Speak."
The agreement was signed at SPK headquarters in Berlin by Dr. Marion Ackermann, President of SPK, and Dr. David Rozenson, Executive Director of Beit Avi Chai, following more than a year of planning and institutional collaboration. The partnership was developed with the support of Ostdeutsche Medienholding (OMH), whose facilitation and commitment played an important role in bringing the collaboration between Beit Avi Chai and SPK to fruition.
The agreement establishes the framework for a multi-year collaboration that includes access to selected artifacts, cooperation with SPK curators and subject experts, and the joint development of films, accompanying articles, and digital content for international audiences. The productions will appear in Hebrew, English, German, and Russian across digital platforms, as well as in educational and museum settings.
SPK is one of the world's foremost cultural organizations, encompassing the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Berlin State Library, major archives and research institutes, and the museums of Berlin's UNESCO-listed Museum Island. Under the agreement, Beit Avi Chai will work with SPK museums, curators, and scholars to produce a new German season of Let Objects Speak, using objects from SPK's collections to illuminate Jewish history, culture, and tradition through scholarship, storytelling, and digital media.
As preparations begin for the German season, Beit Avi Chai is completing post-production on the American season of Let Objects Speak, filmed at leading museums and cultural institutions across the United States. Hosted by author and journalist Matti Friedman, the first episodes are expected to premiere ahead of the Jewish High Holidays in September. Earlier seasons of the series were produced in Russia and Israel in collaboration with many of the world's leading museums and cultural institutions. The German season of Let Objects Speak will be developed in cooperation with Ostdeutsche Medienholding (OMH), whose continuing collaboration will support the project's production and dissemination in Germany.
Launched by Beit Avi Chai, Let Objects Speak explores Jewish civilization through extraordinary manuscripts, ritual objects, works of art, and historical artifacts from leading museums and libraries around the world. Each episode begins with a single object—a manuscript, painting, ritual object, or historical artifact—and uses it as the point of departure for telling a larger story about Jewish history, ideas, and civilization.
The series has previously collaborated with institutions including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, The Morgan Library & Museum, The Jewish Museum, The Jewish Theological Seminary, The State Hermitage Museum, The Pushkin Museum, The Israel Museum, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The addition of SPK significantly expands the project's European reach.
"At a time when Israeli cultural institutions increasingly face boycott campaigns, rising antisemitism, and growing pressure to curtail international cooperation, this agreement sends an important message. It reflects a shared commitment to scholarship, cultural exchange, and the belief that Jewish history and culture belong in the world's leading museums and in the global cultural conversation. Together with SPK, we will bring extraordinary objects—and the Jewish and universal stories they carry—to audiences around the world," said Dr. David Rozenson.
