About Us
BJA was established in 2009 by Dr. Michael Berenbaum and Edward Jacobs to provide a comprehensive and integrated solution for planning and designing museums, special exhibitions, visitor attractions, memorials and other educational and experiential projects. BJA also operates its own media production studio which creates state-of-the-art digital media installations, original video content and advanced AR+VR experiences.
BJA has worked on dozens of international projects across the globe and has teams working in the US, Europe and Israel. BJA works closely with institution leadership, staff and stakeholders, specialist scholars and curators to articulate a visionary narrative, and continue to work hand in hand with campaign leadership to ensure project realization.
As educators first and foremost, BJA intimately understands the pedagogical process. It is this knowledge that is brought into the world of experiential design, media creation, and curriculum development. Every project is seen as a unique opportunity to broaden and deepen the user perspective through powerful, immersive experiences. BJA utilizes unique storytelling methodologies, highly creative applications, and pedagogical techniques in order to deliver meaningful messages in a way that has lasting impact and instills a call to action among its audiences.
First and foremost we are educators. We intimately understand the pedagogical process. It is this knowledge that we bring into the world of Exhibition Design.
BJA’s Methodology begins with listening: listening to the stakeholders/clients and to their goals and aspirations; listening and reading from the factual data, histories and personal narratives that are meant to be realized in the exhibition. As historians we then employ our own research methodologies to insure that the scholarship is the most current and that the foundational account is as expansive and deep as possible. We then craft a holistically integrated conceptual narrative in which the connections between topics and chapters create a seamless, organic and contiguous narrative trajectory.
A Museum must primarily be a storytelling institution. Unlike most artifact-centered Museums which tell the stories of the artifacts they possess, BJA believes that a Museum, both in design and exhibition—must be driven by the story it has to tell as integrated into the ethos of contemporary society. On the basis of that story, artifacts are collected, photographs gathered, diverse media—film, video, narrative tale- compiled, text composed, and the exhibition designed.
Unique to BJA’s approach and methodology is the use of artistry and inventiveness in exhibition design. While artifacts, objects, images and text are the all-important tools for creating an exhibition, BJA excels in using these elements in distinct and imaginative presentations. BJA attempts to create Exhibitionary environments in which the artifacts and objects buttress the overarching narrative. Museums and exhibitions are created as a statement of the times and place they are created in. BJA believes that when appropriately executed, artistic and imaginative approaches enhance underlying educational content as well as overall visitor experience. They amplify the exhibition’s educational impact by creatively enhancing its environment. The goal is to layer information and create an Exhibition that is intellectually informative and emotionally compelling. Museums are not encyclopedias on the wall and few people take the time to read in depth while walking through them. A Museum must provide information on multiple levels. The result must be an experience that engages the casual visitor and more deeply informs the already engaged and even the highly knowledgeable visitor.
Michael Berenbaum
Partner
Dr. Michael Berenbaum is a writer, lecturer, and teacher consulting in the conceptual development of museums and the development of historical films. He is director of the Sigi Ziering Institute at the American Jewish University where he is also a Professor of Jewish Studies. From 1988–93 he served as Project Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, overseeing its creation. For three years, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. He also served as Deputy Director of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust where he authored its Report to the President of the United States, the foundational document of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum to this day. Berenbaum is the author and editor of twenty two books, scores of scholarly articles, and hundreds of journalistic pieces. He was the Managing Editor of the Second Edition of the award winning Encyclopedia Judaica, a 16 million word, 22 volume compendium of the Jewish history, religion and civilization. He has been producer, executive producer, historical consultant, interviewee and writer for many films, including One Survivor Remembers and The Last Days that won Academy Awards and Emmy Awards.
Edward Jacobs
Partner
Edward Jacobs is Principal and co-founder of BJA. Working with Berenbaum, Jacobs is involved with creation of the conceptual narrative while spearheading the firm’s Design department. Prior to founding BJA, Jacobs was a principal at the Berenbaum Group where he worked on a variety of experiential projects. At that time, Jacobs operated his own multidisciplinary, concept and design firm producing renowned projects worldwide ranging from public-space projects, spiritual environments, educational centers, memorial sites, synagogue interiors, industrial and product design, and graphic design. He is a recognized expert in the fields of communication and experiential architecture, creating unique and creative solutions for his various clients.