Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Belgian Jewry, in Posters

Posters can be a form of performance art. This is one conclusion to be drawn from “Public Notice: Jewish History in Posters,” a new exhibit at Brussels’ Jewish Museum of Belgium which opened June 18 and runs until October 3.

The items in the exhibit range from anonymous 19th century anti-Semitic images like The Wandering Jew, to bourgeois advertisements for a pharmacist’s shop and a cigar manufacturer.

As the posters progress, an art nouveau elegance gives way to a more modernist verve. An image announcing the First World Congress of Jewish Students in Antwerp in 1924 exudes an energy akin to classic 1920’s French posters advertising aperitifs and six-day bicycle races.

Such exuberance unfortunately did not last, and soon anti-Semitic imagery again become rife in Nazi-occupied Belgium. Moreover, the postwar works included in “Public Notice” suggest that Belgian Jewish artists never fully recovered their bold creativity. “Never Again,” a desperately tragic poster circa 1960, was created in response to a 1959 upswing in neo-Nazi aggressions across Europe. Despite its title, it was clear that in terms of anti-Semitic violence, “Yes, Again” was a more accurate slogan.

There were some postwar attempts at festivity, however, like a 1968 Antwerp concert by the popular Israeli singer Rika Zarai, who made records in both Hebrew and French. There were also profound Yiddish cultural achievements, like Belgian writer-director Samy Szlingerbaum’s 1980 film “Brussels Transit,” about a Polish Jewish family moving to Belgium.

Still, there is something fragile about many of the more recent posters. A 1988 advertisement for a performance by Gino Cohen’s orchestra shows a lady whom the catalogue authors liken to a rambunctious Toulouse-Lautrec character, but in truth she is closer to the ethereal, wispy drawings of Aubrey Beardsley, as if illustrating the precariousness of Belgian Jewish life.

Only the most recent image in the exhibit contradicts this trend, a 2006 visual plea in support of Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit, who remains a captive of Hamas. Even if posters cannot change history, they do remind us of our ideals.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.