Aug 2–24, 2025
MoMA
Jonathan Berger’s Studio Residency invites visitors to explore the complex notions of home and belonging through an evocative and deeply researched artistic project. Over three weeks, Berger, together with a collective of skilled craftspeople, will construct a meticulously handmade scale model of Kaunas, Lithuania, as it existed around 1941, just prior to Nazi occupation. This model is founded on the research of amateur cartographer Marija Oniščik and reflects a layered narrative intertwining political history and personal memory.
The residency juxtaposes this tangible, crafted map with archival materials from Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, a writer and activist renowned for her concept of “radical diasporism,” which proposes a non-nationalist form of Jewish identity. These archival selections are presented in collaboration with Kaye/Kantrowitz’s estate and longtime editor, journalist Esther Kaplan. Berger’s own family history—his mother’s survival as a hidden Jewish child in Kaunas during World War II—and his teenage involvement with Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, where Kaye/Kantrowitz served as executive director, critically inform this work.
Through this residency, Berger creates a collective space to reflect on antiracist, stateless forms of belonging that transcend time and geography. The process and final model provoke consideration of how history, memory, and identity intersect in making a home, inviting audiences to engage in a dialogue about diasporic narratives and resilience.
The studio will be open to the public on Friday evenings and weekends during the residency (included with Museum admission), with additional public programs on Saturday, August 23.
