The exhibition presents many treasured works, including rare, illuminated ketubot (wedding contracts) from the 17th to 20th centuries, newly restored American wedding gowns from nearly every decade of the last century and personal mementos that celebrate the aspirations of couples embarking upon marriage. A series of related events plus a comprehensive full-color catalogue accompany the exhibition.
Though Jewish law stipulates very few requirements for a wedding, many special customs and rituals have been developed over time in different countries .
Among the works on display are elaborate, newly conserved American wedding dresses from the late 19th century to the present. These dresses not only chronicle the changing fashion trends in American culture, but also provide a fascinating social history of their times. Accompanying each dress is a personal story — tales of clever proposals, of family wedding preparations in small-town Illinois and of dresses passed lovingly from generation to generation. Also included are six flower girl dresses, the earliest of which was worn in the 1920s.
Additional wedding clothing brought to America and on loan from families reflects Jewish communities in Morocco, Iraq and Iran. Also on display are trousseau items from Turkey and Rhodes, such as embroidered towels and clogs for the bride to take to the mikvah (ritual bath).
The Skirball Museum is home to one of the premier collections of ketubot in the world, with more than 400 examples dating from the 17th century to contemporary times and representing some 25 countries including Italy, Afghanistan and China. The exhibition displays many of these ketubot, the earliest of which was produced in Venice in 1649.
Also included are a group of 18th- and 19th-century folk art textiles from Central Europe known as Wimpeln, Torah binders created to commemorate the birth of a baby boy.
Embroidered or painted on the Wimpel is the Hebrew blessing recited at the circumcision ceremony: “May he grow to study Torah, to get married, and to do good deeds.” Each Wimpel is personalized with images that reflect that blessing, and many include a wedding scene replete with a chuppah, the marriage canopy.
Children attending the exhibition will have an opportunity to dress up as brides and grooms in a lively, interactive section brimming with costumes based on images found in the wedding scenes on Wimpeln and on some of the clothing on display.
A photographic essay by Los Angeles artist Bill Aron of a wedding that took place at the Skirball Cultural Center in 1998 documents present-day traditions. These photographs are accompanied by contemporary wedding items, some of which represent new wedding customs that have emerged in recent years, such as a “blessing bowl,” used to hold blessings for the bride and groom written by their wedding guests.
A work by Los Angeles artist Ed Massey completes the exhibition. The artist recreates his 1998 wedding in a site-specific installation that features the wedding dress he designed for his bride, Dawn Harris. It is an unusual, whimsical gown–a nearly 200 pound mobile sculpture made of a cloth bodice and steel-frame skirt decked with 1,060 handcrafted roses.
A catalogue, “Romance & Ritual: Celebrating the Jewish Wedding,” edited by Grace Cohen Grossman, Skirball senior curator of Judaica and Americana, accompanies the exhibition.
The exhibition was made possible with major support provided in part by the Maurice Amado Foundation and the Susanne & Paul Kester Family Foundation.