A place for everyone

The Jewish Arts Quarter is committed to being an inspiring hub for the people and communities around our neighbourhood, across Melbourne and throughout our state. Delivering diverse benefits to multicultural Victoria is one of our core objectives.

In One Voice Festival

Daniel Goldberg

Sharing Jewish Life

  • Sharing Jewish life is at the core of our development - across ages and from varied cultural backgrounds,  JAQ is built for everyone.

  • Our facilities and activities will be valued by locals and visitors while contributing greater vibrancy to the surrounding retail environment.

Kehilat Kolenu

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A Diverse Community

  • Jewish culture in Australia is a celebration of diversity in our cultural capital – Melbourne.

  • Promoting multiculturalism creates community integration – providing opportunities to develop social cohesion, respect and understanding.

Family Fun


Economic Stimulation

  • New jobs, visitors and activities will create vital economic stimulation.

  • JAQ is an opportunity to contribute something remarkable to both the arts and the economy and contribute to the positive future of Elsternwick, Melbourne and our state.

Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier, Kadimah

Jeff Busby

A platform for Events

  • Selwyn Street will be home to a new pedestrian-oriented piazza where numerous cultural events will be held.  

  • Street festivals are already conducted in Elsternwick and will be regularly held in Selwyn Street with greater opportunity for markets, food trucks, street theatre and more.


  • Selwyn Street will have great meeting places and excellent programming – creating a vibrant oasis in the heart of  Elsternwick.


  • With exciting performances, engaging lectures and cultural events, the new 200-seat performing arts space at JAQ7 will provide a cultural attraction for everyone.

Celebrations during Sukkot

JMA Collection

Tradition through Education

  • The Jewish Arts Quarter will create an experience for learning with over 100,000 school children visiting the Melbourne Holocaust Museum and the Jewish Museum of Australia each year.


  • Kadimah has over 112 years of history and will  continue its role in the celebrating  the Yiddish language and performing arts while providing a venue for community gathering and celebration.

  • The Jewish Museum of Australia has an established programme of temporary exhibitions for artists and archival collections for people such as Sir John Monash, Andy Warhol , Chagall and Mirka Moira.

Karl Duldig

Sun Appearing through Dark Clouds 1972

Karl Duldig Heritage Windows

  • The collection of artworks designed by Karl Duldig for the Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library will be incorporated throughout our dynamic cultural centre.

  • The artworks reflect the purpose of the building through references to Jewish culture, tradition and history, and interpret the ideas represented by the Hebrew word ‘Kadimah’, meaning ‘Forward’ or ‘Eastward’.


  • Six memorial windows commemorate the six million Jewish people who lost their lives as victims of Nazi persecution while other motifs express hope for the future – juxtaposing the past appropriately while expressing positive new beginnings.

Melbourne Holocaust Museum

Kerstin Thompson Architects

Melbourne Holocaust Museum

  • The Melbourne Holocaust Museum plays a significant role in immersing visitors in the profound events of the Holocaust whilst educating the public to combat antisemitism, racism and prejudice in the community.


  • The Melbourne Holocaust Museum and  JAQ7 are neighbours on Selwyn Street, providing visitors with access to two important museums for exploration, education and excursions.

In One Voice Festival

Daniel Goldberg

Community Access

  • JAQ is firmly committed to engaging and collaborating with diverse communities from Melbourne and beyond. Creating dialogue and building relationships across ethnic anc cultural backgrounds are important building blocks to creating a more harmonious society.

Bagels

Peter Haskin Photography

Food, Fun & Destination Dining

  • Food is an important part of Jewish culture, and  JAQ will be home to a range of Jewish and non-Jewish food experiences. From destination dining to al fresco meeting spaces, people will find inclusive opportunities for dining in this new and diverse cultural precinct.

Community Voices

JAQ is a celebration of culture, creativity and community, with a promise to be a place for connection and collaboration.

“The Jewish Arts Quarter will be an important place for the community to celebrate and share Jewish history and traditions – and we are proud to be supporting what will be a wonderful new space.”

Ros Spence

Victorian Minister for Multicultural Affairs

“I am incredibly proud to be able to get behind this once in a lifetime opportunity. The positive impact the Jewish Arts Quarter will have on culture, the local economy, tourism, and employment in the city of Melbourne, the state of Victoria and the entire Australian community is exemplary and will benefit all for decades to come”.

Mr John Gandel AC

Chairman of Gandel Foundation

“The dream of the Jewish Arts Quarter is becoming a reality. I have been proud to support this project since its inception. The Jewish Arts Quarter will be a place to gather, to celebrate and to showcase the rich culture and unique stories of our local community.”

Josh Burns

Federal Member for Macnamara

"The Victorian Multicultural Commission believes the Jewish Arts Quarter will have lasting positive impacts for this state and nation, and therefore we stand alongside the partners to support this significant project.”

Vivienne Nguyen

Chairperson - Victorian Multicultural Commission

“Projects like the Jewish Arts Quarter have immediate economic impacts as well as long-term cultural benefits for all Victorians. We’re ensuring we have a steady pipeline of projects to create good secure jobs and keep investment coming as we plan the roadmap to our recovery.”

The Hon Richard Wynne

Minister for Planning

“Congratulations to the Jewish Arts Quarter (JAQ) for creating an Australian 'first' where major cultural organisations will be geographically co-located in a new revitalised space amongst a thriving Elsternwick landmark. The creation of JAQ is a vital community asset that will weave a cultural tapestry through the local area, drawing in new visitation and employment opportunities and a centralised meeting place and public space, and will help stimulate a thriving construction and creative arts industry, helping to bring the Elsternwick Cultural Precinct to life.”

Cr Margaret Esakoff

Councillor – Glen Eira City Council

“Similar to JAQ, the Victorian Pride Centre presents an opportunity for a marginalised community to gather together, capacity build and engage with the wider community. The Victorian Pride Centre looks forward to collaborating with JAQ when it opens. Both venues will be a flagship for the Australian community, pride and culture for decades to come.”

Justine Dalla Riva

CEO Victorian Pride Centre

"As a destination, JAQ will have a positive and meaningful impact on our organisation, our participants, our volunteers and the whole community.”

Dean Cohen

CEO Flying Fox

The Jewish Arts Quarter is a bold vision for bringing together some of our community’s leading institutions in one location – a blueprint built around the arts, culture, performance, learning and all things Jewish. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for a major new project that will benefit our community for decades to come.”

Gideon Kline

Director Jewish Arts Quarter and President Jewish Museum of Australia: Gandel Centre of Judaica

“Sholem Aleichem College has a history in Elsternwick for over 70 years. The college instils Jewish values for a lifetime in its students and shares in the wonderful opportunity that is the Jewish Arts Quarter. Our students, staff and wider community will benefit from this hub through enriching cultural experiences.”

Helen Greenberg

Principal Sholem Aleichem College

“We look forward to sharing Yiddishkeit with the local community and the world and engaging in celebrating Jewish life in all its forms.”

Rachel Chrapot

CEO Kadimah:Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library

“The Jewish Arts Quarter will bring the best of what our community has to offer across art and culture, food and festivals, music, performance and shared experiences from the young and young at heart.”

Jessica Bram

Former CEO Jewish Museum of Australia: Gandel Centre of Judaica

“Glen Eira is fortunate to be home to a community that is rich in its cultural and linguistic diversity. The Jewish Arts Quarter seeks to celebrate that, by sharing an insight into Jewish life and culture in all of its forms. I commend this project and congratulate the Jewish Arts Quarter (JAQ) for their unrelenting pursuit of strategies that will support and compliment Council’s vision of a dynamic cultural precinct in the heart of Elsternwick – a local cultural precinct of State significance.”

Cr Li Zhang

Deputy Mayor – Glen Eira City Council

“The Jewish Arts Quarter is an initiative of national significance to celebrate Jewish arts and culture in Victoria. We are excited to support the Jewish Museum of Australia’s vital role in the project and the incredible vision that is making this precinct both a reality and a legacy of enduring significance for the people of Australia.”

John Petersen

CEO -Multicultural Museums Victoria

“Melbourne could get its own Jewish Lygon Street, showcasing the diaspora’s art, history and culture in the city’s south.”

The Age

“Investing in projects like JAQ builds cultural capital, social harmony, cohesion and a healthy and robust economy. JAQ will play a crucial role in stimulating Victoria’s economy in the post pandemic recovery, particularly in developing creative and cultural tourism. It is an exciting project and I look forward to being involved.”

Alex Waislitz

Waislitz Foundation

"JAQ is a bold and innovative new project and a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring together the impressive array of Jewish art and culture that is currently being contributed Australia wide. JAQ will provide an inclusive and diverse place that spotlights and celebrates the diversity of Jewish life, a much-needed place to bring people together after such a long time of social distance and isolation."

Romi Kupfer

Founder and CEO Centre of Jewish Artists

"The proposed Jewish Arts Quarter (JAQ), developed in collaboration with the Jewish Museum of Australia: Gandel Centre of Judaica, Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library, and Sholem Aleichem College, will create a new, one-stop arts and cultural destination in Melbourne.... the project is centered around the creation of a hub that will include museums, education facilities, food, festivals, and open public spaces. Anchored by the Holocaust Museum, the Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library, and the Jewish Museum of Australia, the JAQ will host Jewish theater productions and performances, art exhibitions, street busking, and literary events as well as lectures, film nights, and street festivals."

Nomi Kaltmann

Tablet Magazine