16. December 2024
Expo Window
Expo Window: Money – A Part of Life
by Jewish Museum Vienna & Geraldine Blazejovsky
Jews and money are a rather stereotypical issue, right? That is only the case if we hold prejudices ourselves. During the Middle Ages, money lending was one of the few professions Jews were allowed to pursue. That does not mean that all Jews were rich, however. The opposite was true: Like most part of the entire population, most Jews were just scraping by. Due to the shortage of money, many money lending businesses issued micro-loans for everyday business, which provided lenders and borrows with funds to live (and survive). Only a select few provided credit for princes and emperors to help fund their wars and stately buildings. Yet already in the Middle Ages, Jews were linked with the subject of money, which was loaded with stereotypes. The term “usury” originally referred to the lending of money with an interest charge. It then received a negative connotation and was often used in conjunction with the adjective “Jewish.” Non-Jews such as the House of Fugger, a banking family who greatly profited in the early capitalist period of the sixteenth century, were labeled with this term and considered Jewish.
Of course, many of the first banks established were Jewish-run businesses. However, they were only a few who made it to the very top of this field. All other Jews were then associated with this wealth, even though they barely had any money to deposit in these prominent banks. The Nazis’ massive theft of the Jewish population was committed on such a tremendous scale not only in the fact that they took much from the wealthy, but also in how they robbed everyone of everything they had. For a longtime, only the wealthy had the means to demand the return of their stolen property following the collapse of the Nazi regime.
Artist Geraldine Blazejovsky takes us on a journey through time into the world of those who had so much and those who had so little, as well as everyone in-between. In many small, everyday situations, prejudices are shattered and stereotypes are rendered meaningless. Jews and money should no longer be a stereotypical issue.
Artist Statement by Geraldine Blazejovsky – “Money – A Part of Life”
Money is a part of life: we earn it, lose it, win it, get cheated, sell something, and inherit. In the cartoons for the Expo Window, thirty-six people are dealing with money as part of their lives.
Based on daily and extraordinary situations focusing on money, you walk through time and through history (1195–2020). From Samuel, 1682, who lends the emperor money to Gisela, 1939, who must leave everything behind and from Peter, 1953, who gives his children money for ice cream to Alon, 1991, who exchanges Austrian Schillings for Euros, viewers are invited to smirk, empathize, discover something, and even see themselves in the cartoons. Have fun!
© Geraldine Blazejovsky
© Geraldine Blazejovsky
© Geraldine Blazejovsky
© Geraldine Blazejovsky
Supported by UniCredit Bank Austria.
