One of the museum's artefacts[Missing Credit]
Exhibits include an 1800 Stoke-on-Trent jug depicting Jewish boxer Daniel Mendoza, a letter from an evacuee child, an original paper bag from Kossoff's bakery, and a photograph of the first multi-faith wedding held under a chuppah at West London Synagogue.
“The work that is being done here at JW3 is important, but it's no substitute for having a permanent collection that stands at the heart of British life,” Nandy said.
The museum’s permanent Camden site closed in July 2023 due to financial pressure.
Nandy said: “At a time when many Jewish organisations are being silenced, it's more important than ever that we affirm the importance and the centrality of the contribution that Jewish people have made over many centuries and make still to what it means to be British.
“As a government, we very much support the ambitions of the Jewish community. The funding that we've announced today doesn't achieve that [permanent home] but it is a significant leap forward towards achieving that goal.”
The minister added culture played a role in building understanding and tackling antisemitism.
“You can't combat antisemitism through the sorts of funding that we're announcing today alone, but it's about connection and it's about understanding,” she said.
Nandy said education about the Jewish community also had an important role to play for young people, as many had little or no direct contact with the community.
“One of the things that really strikes me when talking to young people in the UK growing up today is that many young people won't have come into contact with a member of the Jewish community or won't know that they have,” she said.
Nandy, who delivered a handwritten speech at the launch of the exhibition, said she wanted her 11-year-old son, who has grown up in Wigan “to understand that his mum was born in the city that was shaped and defined by waves of immigration from all over the world.”
She said: “Waves of Jewish immigration, and immigration from other parts of the world, have helped to define what it means to be British.
“I grew up in the 1980s in South Manchester and just down the road was Cheetham Hill. It is an incredibly diverse city. And so my experience was of knowing Jewish friends and neighbours. Most people's experience in Britain is not that. So it's about bringing people into contact with and connection with people who come from different backgrounds to them, about increasing understanding.”
She warned, “Many young people growing up today will only understand much about the Jewish community through the prism of what is happening in the Middle East.
Lisa Nandy at JW3[Missing Credit]
“Unless there's that much deeper connection and understanding about Jewish people here in the UK, we will continue to see some of the way that that conflict is now playing out quite unacceptably on the streets of Britain and the way in which the entire Jewish community is misunderstood as a result of that,” she added.
She also referred to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) new programme with the Department for Education to fund a schools outreach pilot bringing together children from different backgrounds to explore Jewish culture.
The announcement comes as the UK’s first Jewish Cultural Month draws to a close and amid a wider set of measures to combat antisemitism in the arts sector.
The Government is also working with Arts Council England on an independent audit of its processes for handling antisemitism.
Nandy said: “Today's investment is about bringing communities together, helping us to understand one another and sending a clear message that in the face of hatred and division, we will always choose unity.”
Nick Viner, chair of trustees of the Jewish Museum London, welcomed the funding.
He said: “The DCMS support will be invaluable in helping us over the next period as we become more outward facing, expanding our education outreach and increasing our collection loans across the country.
“We value the fact that Government realises the importance of the Jewish Museum's programme at this time of mounting antisemitism and shares our belief that the British Jewish community is an integral part of the story of immigration and cultural identity in Britain, not a world apart.”
The funding will be distributed through Arts Council England.
When asked on the eve of the Makerfield by-election, Nandy would not be drawn on whether she would want to remain Culture Secretary if her close friend Andy Burnham wins the seat and goes on to become Labour leader.
She said: “I can tell you that being the culture secretary has been the absolute privilege of my life, and I'm enjoying every minute.”
