Mishpocha is partnered with two other art shows taking place in the city, all of which are part of the World Design Capital initiative, which this year has been awarded to Frankfurt Rhine-Main. One of these is Under the Skin: Focus on Tattoos at the Opel Villas Rüsselsheim, which features work by German photographer Jan Zappner.
“Of course, tattoo culture is at the core of hip-hop, punk, riot grrrl and rave,” says Wenzel, referencing the music that appears in the show. “But Jan also has a project called Mishpocha, [for which] he interviewed Jews living in Germany and took portraits of them. The work is a transcript of those talks, plus the photos. We asked him to develop it further, together with Mike D, so he took a walk with Mike and took photographs and one of the images features in the [Mishpocha] exhibition.”
While Zappner looks at the present, the other show, by Marcelo Brodsky at Kunsthaus Wiesbaden, looks to the past. “Marcelo is an artist from Argentina,” explains Wenzel, “who portrayed the Heschel and King demonstration as part of his series of photos [1968: The Fire of Ideas], which overlays and reworks historical photos with colours and words. It’s all about the 1968 revolts around the world. He met with Mike and then we linked a solo exhibition of his with the idea of BPOC and Jewish communities demonstrating together for civil rights.”
Mishpocha invites viewers to consider what family truly means. “When I was younger,” says Wenzel, “I had this definition that my mishpocha was my friends and we were forever young. I’m a mother now, so my definition is more traditional, but we all start from different points and it’s good to be aware of that.” Of course, the word can mean many things, Krah reminds us. “At the museum, the focus has always been on Jewish family origin,” she says. “It gives me great pleasure to know that we are now expanding this perspective and celebrating chosen family, which all of us can find over the course of our lives and with whom we can feel that sense of belonging.”
By Danielle Goldstein
Header photo: Mike D © Jan Zappner
Mishpocha: The Art of Collaboration runs 17 April to 27 September 2026 at the Jewish Museum Frankfurt. See juedischesmuseum.de for more info.
This article appears in the Spring 2026 issue of JR.
