Thinking forward through the past

A major international research project led by the University of Leeds has attracted significant funding from the AHRC to shine new light on forgotten works by Jewish artists. Performing the Jewish Archive has been awarded £1,534,076 by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) under its Care for the Future : Thinking Forward Through the Past theme. Led by Dr Stephen Muir of the University’s School of Music , Performing the Jewish Archive will bring recently rediscovered musical, theatrical and literary works by Jewish artists back to the attention of scholars and the public, and stimulate the creation of new works. A multidisciplinary team across four continents will focus on the years 1880-1950 – an intense period of Jewish displacement – to explore the role of art in such upheaval. Dr Muir’s recent work has drawn upon musical archives of Russian and Polish Jewish composers who found their way to South Africa through various processes of displacement and migration. Performing the Jewish Archive stems from several projects with colleagues in both the University and Leeds College of Music. Dr Muir said: “All this work has built up a great deal of momentum at the University of Leeds, paving the way for this large grant.