Dagesh Studio on the Road #SukkotEdition 2026
“Der Himmel als Dach | The Sky as a Roof”
Jewish Cultural Museum Veitshöchheim | September 25 – October 2, 2026
Exhibition Opening: September 26, 2026
Curated by: Johanna Weiß & Daniel Laufer
The exhibition “Der Himmel als Dach | The Sky as a Roof” takes the Jewish festival of Sukkot as its starting point for an artistic exploration of fragility, protection, and community in a time of crisis. Sukkot commemorates the period of wandering and dwelling in temporary shelters during the Exodus from Egypt. The sukkah embodies a precarious place of refuge — one that offers no guarantees of safety, yet enables a form of pausing, openness, and togetherness.
Especially today, in the face of war, displacement, ecological crises, political uncertainty, social polarization, and growing isolation, the symbolism of the sukkah takes on new relevance. It stands for the temporary shelters that refugees, marginalized groups, or people living in unstable circumstances must seek out or improvise. In this way, the sukkah raises a fundamental question — not only architecturally, but also socially: What does protection mean when it cannot be permanent? And what does community mean under fragile conditions?
To accompany the exhibition, a sukkah will be constructed that is both traditionally rooted and creatively designed. As a fragile structure, it is permeable to the elements — far removed from the permanence of a solid building. It is precisely in this temporality that a central idea of Sukkot becomes visible: the awareness that human life and all our achievements are fragile and exist within a larger context. This fragility invites us to acknowledge impermanence, to connect with the present moment, and to rediscover the value of simplicity and interconnectedness.
The gesture of invitation, sharing, and provisional gathering forms the heart of the exhibition, pointing to the idea of community as a form of resistance. “The Sky as a Roof” understands the sukkah as a space of encounter — where tradition and contemporary artistic positions meet — as a place of listening, community, and reflection.
“Der Himmel als Dach | The Sky as a Roof” is part of the nationwide series Dagesh Studio on the Road, which brings contemporary Jewish perspectives in current art to wider visibility, and is realized in collaboration with the Jewish Cultural Museum Veitshöchheim.
Following the Purim Edition in March in Dresden, we continue the series in September 2026 with the #SukkotEdition in Veitshöchheim. From September 25 to October 2, 2026, we will activate the Jewish Cultural Museum Veitshöchheim and the sukkah in the museum’s historic synagogue courtyard, creating a space where tradition and contemporary art come together. The exhibition opening will take place on September 26, 2026. Further information about the participating artists and the accompanying program will follow shortly.
The participating artists are:
Michal Fuchs
Elianna Renner
Toni Mauersberg
Regina Potomkina
and others
On 4 and 5 June 2026, the Dagesh on Tour facilitators came together for the second qualification training of the year. The two-day programme focused on pedagogical approaches to teaching Jewish art and artistic positioning, the implementation of the Dagesh safeguarding concept in workshop practice, and reflection on collaboration between facilitators during workshops.
The first part of the training was dedicated to the question: How can concepts of “Jewish art” be conveyed in educational settings, and what possible approaches to defining “Jewish art” can be formulated in this context? Given the complexity and ambiguity of the term, the focus was on a shared exploration of different perspectives, experiences, and positions within the field.
Drawing on artistic and educational impulses, participants discussed the themes and concepts that shape the work of Dagesh on Tour and explored how these can be translated into workshop formats. The session provided space to reflect on participants’ own roles, perspectives, and responsibilities as artistic and educational facilitators, while generating valuable ideas for the future development of Dagesh on Tour’s educational programmes.
Another key focus of the qualification days was the practical application of the Dagesh safeguarding concept. Kristina Omelchenko, Education Coordinator and Cultural Mediator, and Nina Fraeser, Education Coordinator and Mediator, led the workshop “How to Safeguarding Concept: Safety Training and Introduction to the Safeguarding Framework.”
Following an introduction to the guidelines developed as part of the safeguarding concept, participants worked through a practical case study in a role-playing exercise. The scenario centred on an ambiguous antisemitic incident, requiring participants to apply the checklists and action guidelines developed within the framework. The exercise enabled participants to test the safeguarding concept from different perspectives and reflect on its practical implementation. The insights gained during the workshop will contribute to the ongoing development of the safeguarding concept.
The qualification concluded with a session led by coach Deborah Kohn. The first part focused on collaboration between facilitators working in pairs. Drawing on practical examples, participants discussed communication, role distribution, and strategies for preventing and addressing conflicts.
The second part was dedicated to a collective reflection on the previous workshops and the key insights gained throughout the qualification. This process helped identify important impulses for the further pedagogical and conceptual development of Dagesh on Tour formats.
The second qualification training once again highlighted the value of exchange and collaboration among the facilitators. Diverse perspectives became visible, methods and procedures for workshop implementation were successfully conveyed, and concrete ideas for the further development of Dagesh on Tour formats emerged. We would like to thank all speakers and facilitators for their committed participation and valuable contributions.
Film Screening | Workshop Discussion | Network Gathering as part of JFBB Pro
The Dagesh workshop at the Jewish Film Festival Berlin Brandenburg 2026 once again demonstrated that contemporary Jewish art is multi-voiced, multilingual, and multifaceted. This diversity requires spaces that make it visible and strengthen it: outwardly within society, and inwardly as places of encounter, exchange, and solidarity.
As part of the Jewish Film Festival Berlin Brandenburg 2026 (JFBB), Dagesh once again presented its own program format within JFBB Pro. The Dagesh workshop took place on May 6, 2026, at Felleshus | the Nordic Embassies’ Community House in Berlin.
As an industry platform, JFBB Pro is aimed at filmmakers, producers, and representatives of the film industry from Germany and the international context. It serves as a space for exchange on Jewish themes in film, current social debates, and new artistic perspectives — this year with a special focus on Nordic-Jewish perspectives.
The Dagesh workshop was conceived as an open space for conversation and presentation, where both completed films and works in progress were introduced. The focus was on five film projects by Dagesh artists: works by Irina Dzhus (ANTICON), Matan Tal (My Sister Shira), Marccela Moreno (Shemira), Ron Segal (ADAM), and Soso Dumbadze (A Coincidence). The workshop discussion was moderated by Dagesh curator Daniel Laufer together with Dagesh coordinators Alisa Gadas, Paulina Schmid, and Yana Lemberska.
The five presented works differed significantly in language, aesthetics, genre, and thematic approach. Essay film, animation, documentary forms, performance, and conceptual works stood side by side, opening up diverse perspectives on memory, identity, migration, the body, language, and loss. It was precisely this multiplicity of perspectives that highlighted the multilingual and multi-voiced nature of the Dagesh network.
The projects and discussions also addressed the filmmakers’ personal experiences in Germany and Europe after October 7, 2023. Again and again, participants emphasized the importance of Dagesh as a network and platform for Jewish artists that enables exchange, visibility, and solidarity.
Following the workshop, artists and network members gathered for the Dagesh network meeting in the spaces of the Nordic Embassies. Over coffee and cinnamon buns, they exchanged ideas about current projects, future plans, and Jewish perspectives in contemporary film and other artistic genres. The gathering especially offered younger filmmakers the opportunity to connect with established artists and build new relationships within the network.
In addition, attending the festival’s official opening ceremony together at Potsdam’s Hans Otto Theater created further opportunities for encounters and conversations among network members. Participants also attended additional JFBB Pro events, including Talents – Projects – Perspectives, which offered insights into current film and series projects in development and production and also featured works by Dagesh artists, including Ido Gotlib, Shira Kela, and Shoshana Simon.
With the Dagesh workshop and network gathering, Dagesh successfully continued its work of creating visibility, fostering exchange, and strengthening artistic connections among contemporary Jewish artists. Once again, the format highlighted the diversity of artistic positions and individual narratives within the network while creating a space for collective thinking, collaboration, and the initiation of future projects.
We would like to thank JFBB for the excellent cooperation, the Nordic Embassies for their warm hospitality, and all artists, filmmakers, and participants for this important exchange between disciplines, experiences, and ideas.
Especially in times of dramatic social polarization, making Jewish voices and perspectives in contemporary art visible and strengthening them remains an important commitment. We are also deeply grateful to the EVZ Foundation for its continued support of our network activities.
“Der Himmel als Decke | The Sky as a Roof”
Jewish Cultural Museum Veitshöchheim
Opening: September 26, 2026; Exhibition dates: September 25 to October 2, 2026
Curated by: Johanna Weiß & Daniel Laufer
We warmly invite all Dagesh artists to participate in the exhibition “Der Himmel als Decke | The Sky as a Roof.” The exhibition is part of the nationwide series Dagesh-Studio on the Road, which highlights contemporary Jewish perspectives in current art. Following the Purim Edition in March in Dresden, we will continue the series in September 2026 with Dagesh-Studio on the Road #SukkotEdition 2026 in Veitshöchheim.
From September 26 to October 2, 2026, we will activate the Jewish Cultural Museum Veitshöchheim as well as the sukkah in the museum’s historic synagogue courtyard, creating a space where tradition and contemporary art meet. The exhibition opening will take place on September 26, 2026.
The exhibition “Der Himmel als Decke | The Sky as a Roof” takes the Jewish festival of Sukkot as a starting point for an artistic exploration of fragility, protection, and community in a time of crisis. Sukkot recalls the period of wandering and dwelling in temporary shelters during the Exodus from Egypt. The sukkah embodies a precarious space of protection that does not guarantee safety, but enables a moment of pause, openness, and togetherness.
Especially today, in the face of war, displacement, ecological crises, political uncertainty, social polarization, and increasing isolation, the symbolism of the sukkah gains renewed relevance. It represents temporary shelters such as those sought or improvised by refugees, marginalized groups, or people living in unstable conditions. In doing so, the sukkah raises a fundamental question—not only architecturally, but also socially: What does protection mean when it cannot be permanent? And what does community mean under fragile conditions?
For the occasion of the exhibition, a sukkah will be constructed that is both traditional and creatively designed. As a fragile structure, it remains permeable to the elements, far from the permanence of a solid building. Precisely in this temporality, a central idea of Sukkot becomes visible: the awareness that human life and all our achievements are fragile and exist within a larger context. This fragility invites us to acknowledge transience, connect with the present moment, and rediscover the value of simplicity and connectedness.
The gesture of invitation, sharing, and provisional gathering forms the core of the exhibition and points to the idea of community as a resilient practice: “Der Himmel als Decke” understands the sukkah as a space of encounter, where tradition and contemporary artistic positions converge—a place of listening, community, and reflection.
For the design of the exhibition and the opening program, we invite Dagesh artists to submit proposals. Your artistic contributions should reflect the dialogue between tradition and contemporary artistic practice and engage with themes such as fragility, transience, temporary protection in uncertain times, or forms of safety created through gathering in the sukkah and in community. Contributions that address Jewish perspectives in rural contexts are especially welcome.
Submissions may include completed works or project proposals in the form of two-dimensional works, small-scale sculptures, sound and video works, performance formats, essays, or poems.
Please submit:
Artists whose contributions are presented as part of the exhibition will receive an honorarium of €500. Travel and accommodation costs as well as expenses for transporting the works will be fully reimbursed. Unfortunately, production costs cannot be covered.
Application deadline: May 30, 2026
Please submit by email to: bewerbung@dagesh.de with the subject line “#Sukkot Edition 2026.”
For questions regarding the open call, please contact Alisa Gadas (info@dagesh.de) or Daniel Laufer (laufer@dagesh.de).
We look forward to receiving many contributions and to shaping this special space together!
On May 6, 2026, at 1:00 p.m., Dagesh invites you to a filmscreening and discussion with filmmakers from our network as part of the Jewish Film Festival Berlin-Brandenburg (JFBB). As part of the JFBB Pro industry day, completed films and works-in-progress will be screened and discussed with the filmmakers. Works by Irina Dzhus (ANTICON), Matan Tal (My Sister Shira), Marcella Moreno (Shemira), Ron Segal (ADAM), and Soso Dumbadze (Ein Zufall), among others, will be presented.
Following the event, the next Dagesh network meeting will take place, where the creative exchange with the artists can continue.
Further information about the festival, the program, and registration will follow on this website: https://jfbb.info/
Note for Dagesh Network members: We cordially invite you to the JFBB Pro Day, the network meeting, and the festival opening on the evening of May 5, 2026, and have reserved free tickets for you. The number of tickets is limited, so we will allocate them by lottery among those who register.
Please register by April 19: bewerbung@dagesh.de / Subject: JFBB 2026
We can reimburse travel and accommodation expenses afterward in accordance with the Travel Expenses Act.
In March, Dagesh – Studio on the Road launched at the German Hygiene Museum Dresden: a new nationwide event series bringing contemporary Jewish art to different cities across Germany and creating space for encounter, discourse, and artistic exchange.
The theme of the evening – transformation and revelation as artistic practice – was deliberately conceived around the Jewish holiday of Purim: a festival of resilience, masquerade, and liberation. The opening featured a powerful performance by Ido Gotlib and actress Deborah Schneidermann, bringing the biblical figure of Queen Esther into the present day.
In the subsequent panel discussion – moderated by Dagesh curator Daniel Laufer – writer Lana Lux, photographer Benyamin Reich, and artist Anna Schapiro discussed identity, women’s roles, and artistic practice between concealment and disclosure within a non-Jewish majority society. Benyamin Reich captured the mood with a pointed remark:
“For Jews in Germany, it’s basically always Purim.”
This is precisely why formats like Dagesh – Studio on the Road are so important: as a platform where Jewish artists can become visible without having to disguise themselves.
The event was more than a single evening. The day before, a Dagesh-on-Tour workshop took place in cooperation with the Cultural Office of Dresden, drawing a strong response. At the same time, 20 network members traveled from across Germany for a meeting that offered space for exchange and mutual support.
The program included a workshop on challenges in the music scene, led by the DJ duo Balagan Sisters, as well as a visit to the project “The Eternal Script – A Torah for Dresden,” including a conversation with curator and Dagesh member Jahna Dahms.
A moving conclusion was provided by the musical contribution of Israeli musician Yehuda Kornfeld. As he was unable to travel from Israel due to the war in the Middle East, he made his yet-unreleased album available – and everyone listened together, separated by distance yet connected. Despite the weight of the moment – with thoughts also turning to the people on the ground, to friends and families – a space for encounter emerged.
The response to the evening in Dresden was overwhelming and powerfully reaffirmed how important formats are that bring together Jewish art, discourse, and community.
We would like to sincerely thank all visitors, our panel guests, network members, cooperation partners, and supporters for these days in Dresden. We are especially grateful to the Jewish Community of Dresden, the Hygiene Museum Dresden, Nevatim, the Dresden Police, and Shual Security for their wonderful collaboration and their commitment.
Dagesh-Studio on the Road · #Purim Edition2 March 2026 · Deutsches Hygiene Museum, DresdenCurated by Daniel Laufer
“Purim Prism Between Appearance and Being. Transformation and Revelation as Artistic Practice”Purim – the Jewish festival of self-assertion and liberation – celebrates the transformative power of masquerade and revelation. Drawing on this tradition, the evening explores the interplay between concealing and revealing, between self-staging and self-denial. Purim becomes a prism through which to interrogate masquerade, reflection, and contradictory realities in the present.The format combines a showcase of works, a panel discussion, and a live performance, followed by a Purim party at the synagogue. Dagesh artists present works from literature, painting, photography, film, and performance that take up central motifs of Purim: When do masks become protection or self-revelation? When does disguise enable liberation, and when does it become pretence?
ProgrammePublic event, 6:00–9:00 PMPanel discussion with Anna Schapiro, Lana Lux, and Benyamin Reich, followed by a live performance.Purim Party, 9:00 PM–midnightRegistration: dagesh.de/studio-on-the-road
The Westfalen-Blatt newspaper on 21 June and the Neue Westfälische newspaper on 24 June 2025 both reported twice on our DoT workshops in Bad Oeynhausen: ‘We are delighted that we were able to bring this fantastic project to Bad Oeynhausen,’ emphasised Claudia Jenkes from the municipal cultural department and history teacher Kai-Uwe Klatz from the Europaschule school. The young people had a choice of two workshops: In the ‘Magazine of Ideas’ workshop, which took place on the premises of the multi-generational house, the young people designed their own journal under the guidance of installation artist Sonia Knop. In the Sonderfahrt youth café, the ‘Let’s talk music’ workshop with musician Yael Gat focused on Jewish music and its languages. The two artists were each supported by an art teacher.”
This year’s Dagesh Festival will take place on July 18 in Berlin – a day for artistic exchange, collaborative work and new impulses. Artists from the wider Dagesh network are invited.
Program:
5pm: Workshops on artistic perspectives, positions and processes
Followed by: Musical Kabbalat Shabbat & dinner
9pm: Closing with live music and DJ sets
line-up: Balagan Sisters, Alex Stolze, Yael Gat, Daniel Laufer
Further information:
The event is organized in cooperation with Nevatim.
On May 9, 2025, Dagesh – Jewish Art in Context presented a curated film program as part of JFBB pro, the industry section of the 31st Jewish Film Festival Berlin Brandenburg (JFBB). The event focused on highlighting diverse contemporary Jewish perspectives and fostering exchange within the cultural and film industries.
The program featured five short films from the Dagesh network:
The films explored a wide range of themes, including Jewish artist identity, personal experiences of the war in Ukraine, histories of migration, and questions of individual and collective identity in changing social contexts.
Following the screenings, a moderated discussion with the attending filmmakers provided the audience with in-depth insights into the creative processes, artistic choices, and personal stories behind the works. The conversation was led by Daniel Laufer, curator of Dagesh, and encouraged direct dialogue between filmmakers and viewers.
The event was part of JFBB pro, the festival’s professional platform aimed at bringing together industry professionals to support exchange, strengthen networks, and promote innovation in Jewish-themed cinema.
Dagesh extends its sincere thanks to all participants, guests, and partners for a meaningful and inspiring day filled with art, dialogue, and connection.
