What is a library? Literally, its definition is quite clear: ‘a building, room, or organization that has a collection, especially of books, for people to read or borrow’. In recent years, however, we find that many feel the need to extend the definition. We have digital libraries and many intellectuals cherish the idea of an imagined library that serves as the foundation of their intellectual lives. The Institute of Ongoing Things constitutes yet another extension of the definition. It is Uri Katzenstein’s very personal library, of his multi-faceted art, of his life in the seventy-years old State of Israel and of his responses to its complicated present. At the Jewish Historical Museum of Amsterdam we take pride in showing Uri Katzenstein’s personal library, on the occasion of Israel’s jubilee year and at the suggestion of our esteemed guest curator Ronit Eden. We invite you to read and be inspired and challenged by Uri Katzenstein’s deeply personal perspective on the world of today.

Emile Schrijver
Director general of the Jewish Cultural Quarter

#ongoingthings