Judaica from British silversmith goes on display at Berlin Jewish exhibit

Judaica by a renowned British silversmith has gone on display in Berlin as part of a new exhibit, after the city’s Jewish museum bought it.

A kiddush goblet by Mila Tanya Griebel, which is based on a quote from Proverbs (Chapter 31) that “a woman’s worth is far above rubies”, made its way to the German capital this week for its post-lockdown ‘Jewish Life: Past and Present’ exhibit.

The goblet won the Judaica 21 Prize in 2015 and Griebel said the Proverbs quote appealed to her as it represents “feminist ideals of a woman’s value being beyond material beauty”.

The contemporary artist said she was “honoured and thrilled” that her work was included in the Berlin exhibition, with all the city’s historic resonances.

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“As a British woman with Germany ancestry, it is oddly fulfilling that the pieces of Jewish ritual ware I am creating here and now are to be recognised as being part of a vibrant contemporary Jewish life that has arisen out of a dark and difficult history.

“As someone who is always reconciling the old traditions of Judaism with present-day needs and customs, I hope visitors gain insight into modern Jewry through my work, and are inspired to learn about the rich culture and religion that exists right now around the world.”

In 2018 several of Griebel’s pieces, including a Shabbat and Havdalah set and a Yarzheit candle holder in the shape of angel’s wings, were exhibited at the British Museum and subsequently commissioned to become the centrepiece of the institution’s permanent Judaica collection.

The daughter of a Polish immigrant who fled the Nazis for Britain aged 13, Griebel has drawn on her family’s history as well as on traditional symbols in work that has also been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum.