LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Art and Culture is a non-religious, Jewish house of study at the 14th Street Y. Its goal is to function as an international incubator for Jewish creativity. Every year LABA selects a group of ten fellows to join them for a yearlong study of classical Jewish texts centered around a theme. LABA aims to push the boundaries of what Jewish art can be and what Jewish texts can teach.
Through study, you engage with the stories of the Bible and classical Rabbinic texts as if they were new. They also fold in secular literature, as well as music and art, to help us better see both the timeless and radical elements of these sacred texts.
A central focus of LABA is to present Judaism’s rich literary and intellectual tradition in an open and creatively fertile setting, so that these texts and ideas may serve as inspiration for the fellows’ art and ideas. The work inspired by the study appears in LABAlive events and online in the LABA Journal.
LABA’s home is the 14th Street Y in New York City’s East Village. The setting provides the fellows the opportunity to engage deeply with the Y community, the neighborhood and the New York theater and art world through installations, gallery shows, workshops, performances, presentations and panel discussions presented throughout the Y and in its convertible Black Box Theater.
THEME
The LABA theme for 2018-2019 is LIFE + DEATH.
FELLOWS
Seeking artists and culture-makers from any creative field: fellows have included choreographers, performers, curators, visual artists, jewelry designers, directors, composers, writers, film-makers and bakers.
No previous knowledge of Jewish texts is required for fellows, nor will previous knowledge of Jewish texts lessen one’s chances of becoming a fellow. What is required is a desire to study these texts in an intellectually rigorous, non-religious setting.
More info and application here
DEADLINE
Sunday April 29th at midnight.
