All Forgotten

An exhibition by the Jewish Museum Vienna in collaboration with the Jewish Museum Hohenems

It is repeatedly invoked: the imperative of remembrance as a characteristic of Jewish culture. But is there not also an imperative of forgetting? Is there a right to forget? And how much forgetting is embedded in every act of remembering? How much repression is inherent in every interpretation, every use of “history”?

Without memory, there is no identity – but isn’t the opposite just as true? Every memory takes the place of another possible memory. What defines us, what shaped us in the past, becomes part of our identity, as do the gaps and omissions, the forgotten.

Museums, in particular, are associated with the task of preserving and remembering. And with that, also deciding what is preserved and what is not. So, how do museums, and especially Jewish museums, deal with forgetting? What is collected, what is discarded? What is exhibited, and what is not even inventoried?

Starting from the significance that forgetting holds for each individual, this exhibition explores the various aspects of forgetting, between trauma and liberation, erasure and self-empowerment.

Curators Daniela Pscheiden (Jewish Museum Vienna) Dinah Ehrenfreund (Jewish Museum Hohenems)

A catalog for the exhibition was published at the end of January – with an essay by Aleida Assmann and contributions from the curators.

All Forgotten November 15, 2026 to October 03, 2027 Jewish Museum Hohenems

Until September 17, 2026, the exhibition can be seen at the Jewish Museum Vienna: www.jmw.at ►

Cover image (excerpt): © www.nafezrerhuf.com