Sara Berman’s Closet, a small and monumental story, is a powerful and intimate exploration of independence, identity, feminism, family, time, immigration, memory, joy, and courage. It speaks to the universal pursuit of meaning and beauty, from the monumental to the mundane. Sara’s daughter and grandson, celebrated artist Maira Kalman and curator Alex Kalman, have re-created Sara’s meticulous and quirky closet as an homage to stories everyday belongings carry. NMAJH has invited the Kalmans, who have been featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The New Yorker, to create an outdoor installation of Sara’s closet, positioned across from Independence Mall, where it puts Sara’s story on par with the surrounding monuments to our country’s founding fathers. Additionally, the Kalmans blend art, history, and memory to explore Sara’s journey from Belarus to Tel Aviv to NYC in NMAJH’s 5th floor gallery through original paintings, text, and ephemera.
This exhibition includes an installation on the Museum’s Kimmel Plaza outdoors, and inside on the Museum’s 5th floor special exhibition gallery.
To purchase the 2018 book by Maira Kalman and Alex Kalman, visit the NMAJH Museum Store here.
Photos by Jessi Melcer
Sara Berman’s Closet, an exhibition by Maira and Alex Kalman, will be on display at the National Museum of American Jewish History on Independence Mall with generous support provided by Amanda and Glenn Fuhrman. Major support provided by Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan, Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer and Joseph Neubauer, Patti Askwith Kenner/Indian Trail Charitable Foundation, and Erving and Joyce Wolf Foundation. Additional support provided by the Kraus Family Foundation; Boyds Philadelphia; Warby Parker; The Streisand Foundation; Jane and Leonard Korman; Sharon Pinkenson and Joseph Weiss; and Laurie Wagman in Memory of Irvin Borowsky.