Cultural Heritage of Macedonian Jews: Research, Preservation and Social Impact of Jewish Past in Contemporary South-Eastern Europe

The cultural heritage and visual culture of Jewish communities in the territories of former Yugoslavia is an understudied area in both Jewish Studies and Balkan Studies. Even less scholarly attention has been attracted hitherto to Jewish cultural heritage in the Republic of Macedonia. The studies of local Jewish heritage were largely neglected in the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. The social instability and wars raged through the former Yugoslavian states in the late 20th and early 21th century hampered cultural and academic life there. Nowadays, these countries revive their cultural and academic institutions and revisit the historical past. Macedonia and the other new independent states in the region increasingly consider the heritage of Jews as an inherent part of their national, poly-cultural heritage. the Round Table assembles researches of the culture and history of Jews in south-eastern Europe from Israel, so-called Yugosphere, and other countries. The participants will manage a wide-scope discussion of the current state and possible perspectives of Jewish studies in the field, and will foster the research and academic ties between the researchers and universities in Macedonia and the other states of former Yugoslavia, Israel, and more countries.