The Jewish Museum London, in Camden Town, is set to reopen to the public in November 2009, after having undergone a £9m redevelopment of its facilities.
The revamp, funded partly by a £4.3m grant from the Heritage lottery Fund, has resulted in the museum tripling in space in order to accommodate its collections, which are currently housed at two separate sites in Camden Town and Finchley.
Five new galleries have been added during the redevelopment. The Welcome gallery will include a multimedia installation, highlighting the background of Jewish people living in Britain today, and a mikveh (a ritual bath) dating to the medieval period which was excavated in the City of London in 2001.
The other galleries to be added are the History Gallery, which includes an interactive exhibition exploring the history if British Jews; the Religion Gallery, which explores Jewish ethics and values; a special exhibitions gallery for travelling exhibits; and the Holocaust Education Gallery.
Other additions will include a 100-seat auditorium, an educational suite for children, a research library, a café and shop.
When open, the museum is expected to attract more than 165,000 visitors a year.
Founded initially at Woburn House in London’s Bloomsbury in 1932, the Jewish Museum relocated to its current location in a listed property in 1995. In the same year, it amalgamated with the former London Museum of Jewish Life in Finchley.
