Apply now and join LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture for a year exploring OTHER.
http://www.labajournal.com/2016/03/laba-application
LABA is a non-religious, Jewish house of study and culture laboratory at New York’s 14th Street Y. Every year LABA selects a group of ten fellows to join for a yearlong study of classical Jewish texts centered around a theme.
A central focus of LABA is to present Judaism’s rich literary and intellectual tradition in a free and creative setting, so that these texts and ideas may serve as inspiration for the fellows’ thoughts and art. The work, which will appear in LABAlive events and the online journal, aims to push the boundaries of what Jewish art can be and what Jewish texts can teach.
LABA’s home is the 14th Street Y in New York City’s East Village. Being in a community center setting gives 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: LABA 2016-17 is OTHER.
The relationship to otherness and the other is one of the building blocks of the individual and collective self. Our construction of the other is a large part of how we define ourselves, ethically and aesthetically. We can learn a lot about ourselves by examining how we conceive of the other.
This year in LABA we will study a variety of classic Jewish texts from different traditions and historical eras that deal with our relationship with the other, be it another gender, nationality, religion or school of rabbinic thought. Part of our process will be utilizing the language of otherness to examine our complicated relationship as modern Jewish artists and culture-makers with our ancient cultural roots.
Most importantly, we will have a great time studying, drinking and creating art together in the lush, fertile, free-flowing, romantic, super-serious and endlessly playful environment of LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture.
FELLOWS
We are looking for culture-makers from any creative field. Previous fellows have included choreographers, performers, visual artists, directors, composers, writers, film-makers and bakers (though we are not limited to these categories). We encourage everyone from puppeteers and chefs to architects and tight-rope walkers to apply.
More info and application here.
