Jewish Museum Vienna is Showing Eran Shakin’s “A Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew”

“A Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew walk into a bar…”—that’s how countless jokes begin. Most often, this is followed by a punchline that reinforces stereotypes, parodies intellectual narrow-mindedness, or highlights the moral flexibility of one of the characters. But anyone who steps into the Jewish Museum Vienna on Dorotheergasse will experience the exact opposite. In the exhibition “A Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew” by Israeli artist Eran Shakine, which opened with a ceremony on May 20, 2026, the expectations of the classic joke are deliberately subverted.

Shakine instead unites his outwardly identical, time-displaced protagonists—styled as 19th-century explorers—in a joint search for God, happiness, and love.

Three Brothers on the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel

Shakine created a very special motif specifically for the exhibition’s Vienna stop: his three heroes are sitting together on the roof of a gondola on the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel. For museum director Barbara Staudinger, the work epitomizes the exhibition's core message: “It’s about shared experiences,” she explained during a press tour. Here, no one is pitted against anyone else. Curator Hannes Sulzenbacher also emphasizes that the figures deliberately avoid stereotypes: “At a time when people, identities, religions, and worldviews are increasingly pitted against one another, they simply represent human beings in their essence and vulnerability.”

Shakine takes up the idea that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share the same origin right at the beginning of the exhibition with a drawn, fictional cover of Time Magazine. The headline reads: “Mother gives birth to identical triplets.” It is a humorous yet theological reference to their common forefather Abraham (or Ibrahim in the Quran).

From Berlin to Amsterdam’s Red Light District

The series of works now on display in Vienna has already enjoyed international success. Shakine, who was born in Israel in 1962 to a French father and a Hungarian Holocaust survivor and grew up in the old city of Jaffa, captures the complex, multi-religious atmosphere of his homeland in these images.

The series premiered at the Jewish Museum Berlin, where it attracted some 250,000 visitors. After stops at the Jewish Museum Munich (2018) and the Amsterdam museum Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder (2019), the city of Amsterdam even erected a permanent monument to the three figures: A sculpture of the trio was installed right in the heart of the famous red-light district. The fact that the subject matter remains highly controversial is evident from recent history: a planned exhibition in Toronto had to be canceled for fear of negative reactions.

Serene calm in the shadow of tragedy

The artistic execution captivates with its versatility. Large line drawings, quickly sketched with black oil pastel, with captions written directly onto the canvas by the artist, alternate with colorful oil paintings, gouaches, textile prints, and videos. At times, the three men sit together on a roof during a flood disaster, waiting to be rescued; at other times, they are followed unnoticed by a small dog—the symbol of the often-overlooked earthly happiness.

Despite the pervasive sense of serenity and positivity, Shakine—whose parents survived the Holocaust—does not shy away from history’s darkest chapters. Thus, the three men find themselves in Auschwitz, where they stand visibly at a loss between the tracks.

Particularly moving is a more recent work created in response to the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. Shakine was in Berlin at the time and created a moving collage of mourning titled “A Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew, Looking for love 6:32 am.” For this, he collected everyday objects and debris such as confetti, coins, and glitter from the ground and incorporated them directly into the image.

A Radical Optimism for the Present

The exhibition, whose atmosphere was largely shaped by live plants from Vienna’s municipal gardens, serves as an important sociopolitical statement in a polarized present. At the opening, Vienna’s City Councilor for Culture, Veronica Kaup-Hasler, praised the show as a “multifaceted dialogue about coexistence, mutual respect, and social cohesion.”

Gregor H. Lersch, director of the Museum Casa di Goethe and co-initiator of the exhibition, also emphasized the artist’s unwavering belief in peaceful coexistence despite all the divisions and conflicts.

At the end of the tour, the museum invites visitors to get involved. At an interactive “Wall of Tolerance,” they can leave their own drawings, wishes, and messages. Eran Shakine himself continues to face the world with a smile. When asked about his message, he openly admits that his art can certainly be called naive: “But it’s good to be naive.”

City of Vienna

Jewish Museum Vienna

Eran Shakine