Jewish Headgear
In Jewish Headgear the Museum shows what Jewish men and women wear on their heads, using the wealth of headgear hidden in our collections. The artist Ann Hult has also laid out a flower bed of kippot in the middle of the exhibition. The intimate space of the women’s gallery is filled with both history and fashion galore.
Call it what you will. Kippah, skullcap, yarmulke, koppel. The kippah is probably the garment most closely associated with being Jewish and living a Jewish life. So why do Jews wear kippot? What do the sources say? And where do the big fur hats you might have seen in popular culture fit in? Then there is the sheer craftsmanship involved in making kippot and other Jewish headgear, applying an endless variety of symbols, embroidery, patterns, colours, and shapes.
Exhibition credits
Project manager: Christina Gamstorp, Angelica Ruckstuhl
Text: Christina Gamstorp, Andreas Schein, Liri Tourgeman
Fact-checking: Daniel Leviathan
Exhibition design/Production management: Expology
Construction and lighting: Hangmen
Photographer: Ylva Sundgren
With thanks to the Robert Weil Family Foundation, the City of Stockholm, Region Stockholm, the Swedish Ministry of Culture and Lessebo Paper.