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.
Invitation to participate at the exhibition in Chemnitz:
We are pleased to invite our network members to the newly conceived exhibition series, which is based on the Jewish calendar. In the year of the Capital of Culture Chemnitz, we are launching the first edition: Dagesh-Studio on the Road #SukkahEdition 2025.
In October 2025, we will create an exhibition in the sukkah in the city park. The sukkah is a fragile, temporary and protective structure that creates a space where tradition and contemporary art can meet. This exhibition is organized in cooperation with Tage der jüdischen Kultur e.V. Chemnitz.
Your contributions – finished works, flatware, small sculptures or sound/video works – should reflect the dialog between tradition and modern artistic practice and address the themes of fragility, transience and connectedness. If you have performances, essays or poems that fit the theme, please also send them in so that we can present them as part of the accompanying program.
Please send us:
A honorarium is provided for all selected artists. The costs for travel and accommodation in Chemnitz will be covered by Dagesh. Unfortunately, production costs cannot be reimbursed.
Application deadline: May 15, 2025
Submission by e-mail to: bewerbung@dagesh.de with subject “Chemnitz 2025”
If you have any questions about the exhibition, please contact Daniel Laufer at laufer@dagesh.de
We look forward to your inspiring ideas and to curating this exceptional space together!
We are excited to announce that as part of this year’s Jewish Film Festival Berlin Brandenburg (JFBB), taking place from May 6-11, Dagesh will present a captivating film program during the “JFBB pro” industry day on May 9.
Our program will showcase a selection of current films from the Dagesh network, including:
Following the screenings, there will be discussions with the filmmakers present, moderated by Dagesh-curator Daniel Laufer. Join us on May 9, from 1:00 PM to 2:45 PM.
Registration Information
Participation in the Industry Day and the Dagesh Screening is free of charge and can be completed via the festival website.
Additionally, we are thrilled to offer 5 accreditations for the Jewish Film Festival Berlin Brandenburg to our network members. If you’re interested in watching a variety of exciting films free of charge between May 6-11, please send an email to bewerbung@dagesh.de with the subject line “Accreditation JFBB 2025” by April 15.
For more details about the festival, visit JFBB Jewish Film Festival Berlin Brandenburg
We look forward to seeing you there!
The workshop commenced with a session led by the Mobile Counselling Team from Angermünde, Barnim/Uckermark, focusing on the challenges posed by right-wing extremist structures in Brandenburg. Participants were introduced to effective strategies employed by non-governmental organizations and engaged in a discussion about how “culture” is perceived within the right-wing milieu. The afternoon provided an opportunity for guided peer-to-peer case consultations, fostering collaborative learning.
Day two unfolded in Eberswalde, starting with a guided tour of the special exhibition “Ellen Auerbach and Lea Grundig – Two Artists in Palestine,” featuring the remarkable works of Atalya Laufer at the Eberswalde Museum. Participants delved deeply into Laufer’s artworks and explored the successful workshop concepts that have been previously implemented as part of Dagesh on Tour.
The final day featured an insightful coaching session led by Marina Chernivsky from OFEK e.V., who elaborated on the specially developed safeguarding concept for Dagesh on Tour. A participant expressed appreciation for the supportive environment: “As always, there was a great group atmosphere and a feeling of safety.”
We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone involved for contributing to a successful event characterized by rich insights, engaging participation, and empowering exchanges.
Photos by Dagesh, installation by Atalya Laufer
“Dear guests, dear Elianna,
It is my great pleasure to honour today an artist whose work far transcends art. Elianna Renner works not only at the junction of biography and history, she shapes the gaps – the gaps between people, between memories, and especially importantly, the gaps between communities that are often played off against one another in public perception: the Jewish and Muslim communities.
My connection to Elianna began in early 2024, at a time of great uncertainty and tension, just a few months after 7 October. At that time, I felt the need to organise a Shabbat dinner with friends in Berlin in order to create a moment of community in those hard times. One of the guests was Daniel Laufer, a filmmaker and artist who was a guest of ours in Zurich at the Transalpinen Festival 2022.
In one of our conversations, I explained to him how hard it is for me to find Jewish artists from Switzerland working on similar topics to us with not_your_bubble – topics like identity, remembrance, and the question of how belonging and connection are created. Daniel said, ‘I know someone.’ And in no time, I was put in touch with Elianna. Since then, we have been engaged in a lively dialogue about art as a medium for encounter and on how we can develop collaborative projects that transcend the classic dividing lines of Jewish and Muslim identities.
What immediately impressed me about Elianna was her deep understanding of how remembrance cannot be a static occasion. She creates spaces in which history comes alive – not only to preserve the past, but also to make the past useable for the present. An especially impressive example of that approach can be seen in her project Köfte Kosher, which she launched in Bremen. Köfte Kosher began as a Jewish-Muslim youth project and developed into one of the most visible artistic sites of remembrance in the Bremen city centre. Working with a group of young people, Elianna created a remembrance pavilion dedicated to twelve people who were murdered on the basis of their religion, skin colour, sexual orientation, a disability, or because they were homeless. One of the twelve was Marwa El-Sherbini, murdered at the Dresden District Court in 2009 on the basis of anti-Muslim hatred. Elianna showed not only how important it is to confront the past, but also how to increase awareness among young people about such topics as civil courage and the fight against group-based hatred.
A further impressive example of her work is the project Tracking the Traffic, in which Elianna sheds light upon historical and current forms of the trafficking of women. The starting point of the project was her extensive research on the history of the Jewish pimping ring Zwi Migdal, which forced women from Eastern Europe into prostitution during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Elianna travelled to multiple continents in the process, speaking with historians and artists while creating multimedia installations that portray the often-forgotten biographies of these women.
Especially moving is the personal dimension of the project. While in Buenos Aires, Elianna initiated a memorial ceremony for Raquel Liberman, the only woman to have brought a pimping ring to court. In doing so, Elianna not only transformed an overgrown cemetery into a place of remembrance, but also created a collective space for bringing awareness to that which has been forgotten.
Elianna’s work always also addresses the question of how we remember, and whom remembrance belongs to. She challenges us to leave our comfort zone and confront the often uncomfortable reality that remembrance is political. She makes clear that remembering doesn’t only involve shedding light on the past, but also responsibility: responsibility for how we treat the past in the present, and how we can learn from it for the future.
At a time in which Jewish-Muslim relations are often burdened by polarisation and prejudice, Elianna’s work is a sign of hope. She shows that art can be a shared space – a space that builds bridges where others see only trenches.
Elianna, your work teaches us that community and belonging aren’t simply givens – community and belonging are things that we build together. You show us that we don’t have to hold fast to existing divisions, but rather that we can create new spaces for dialogue and encounter. You have more than earned the 2024 Omanut-Zwillinberg-Förderpreis that you are receiving today. Your work reminds us that history is never a simple list of dates and facts – history is alive, history is told and shaped by people, and it lives in the stories that we share with one another.
Dear Elianna, I thank you for your commitment, for your courage to face the difficult topics, and for your tireless work creating rooms in which we can encounter one another. I very much look forward to everything we will create together in the future – to new stories, new connections, and new spaces filled with many voices.
Congratulations on this well-deserved award!”
16 January 2025, DialoguePerspectives e.V. Chairperson Hannan Salamat
Art Retreat in Buchen – Liad Shadmis review
From October 8th to 20th, I participated in my first art residency in Buchen, Odenwald, organized by Dagesh – Jewish Arts in Context. Once home to a thriving Jewish community, the town’s synagogue was lost due to the rise of the National Socialist Party. Long-time resident Mr. Schmerbeck, who witnessed the Nazi era in Karlsruhe as a child, has been involved in the Library of Judaism since its foundation in 1998, which today contains around 10,000 volumes on Jewish topics.
During my residency, I explored the typographical history of European Jewry, documenting styles like Ashkenazi and Mizrachi. I was captivated by gravestones from Polish Jewish graveyards, showcasing intricate Hebrew carvings. The early 20th century saw secular Jewish communities adopting Latin script for signage, while in Poland, bilingual signs were common.
I found artistic treasures, including an illustrated 1918 book by Ephraim Moses Lilien, a prominent Jewish artist. Other notable works included illustrations by Käthe Münzer and Menachem Birenbaum. I reflected on the use of “Faux Hebrew” in antisemitic propaganda and its dual identity expression among some Jewish artists.
The oldest book I documented was a 1800 fable collection featuring Mizrachi and Rashi typefaces. Before WWII, a vibrant Jewish publishing industry existed in German-speaking countries, with unique logos and designs that survived historical persecutions.
Overall, my two weeks in Buchen offered deep insights into the artistic and cultural expressions of pre-WWII Jewish life, revealing layers of history that highlight the importance of preserving our heritage.
Photos by Liad Shadmi
“I learned a lot from the intense conversations with my colleagues.”
From November 26 to 28, the final qualification days of 2024 for instructors and artists involved with Dagesh on Tour took place. The focus of the training was on art education for children in elementary school. At the beginning of the meeting, we welcomed Dietmar von der Forst from the Schöneberg Youth Museum, who presented best practice examples for working with 8 to 12-year-olds in non-formal education contexts.
On the second day, we explored the children’s world of the Jewish Museum Berlin. Dr. Ane Kleine Engel welcomed the group to ANOHA, guided them through the fascinating exhibit, and explained the history of its creation, as well as the ongoing work with children in preschool and elementary school. After the tour, participants had the opportunity to ask questions and engage in discussions with Dr. Kleine Engel about the mediation of contemporary Jewish art. One educational consultant described her experiences at ANOHA as follows: “The day at ANOHA was an absolute highlight. The content was not only incredibly interesting and important but also affected me on so many levels. I will be thinking about this visit for a long time.”
On the last day, the group engaged with the exhibit “Rohini Devasher: Borrowed Light” at Palais Populaire. Art educator Sarah Steiner demonstrated how contemporary art education can succeed with a young audience. She also discussed with the participating artists and educational consultants about methods for workshop design with constantly changing exhibition content.
In the final hours of the three-day training, participants had the opportunity to reflect on the methods and approaches they learned for art education with elementary school students, particularly regarding Dagesh on Tour 2025, under the guidance of Deborah Kohn.
We thank all invited speakers for their valuable contributions and the participants for the lively exchange!
Photo: Installationsaufnahmen der Ausstellung: Rohini Devasher – Borrowed Light — Deutsche Bank ‚Artist of the Year‘ 2024 im ©PalaisPopulaire. Berlin, 09.09.2024
‘What an enriching evening! Thank you all for inviting us into the theatre.’
This November, a group of Dagesh network members came together to see a performance of ‘Muttersprach Mameloschn’ at the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin.
The play (book by network member Sasha Marianna Salzmann) revolves around the relationship between three Jewish women – daughter, mother, and grandmother. The piece explores the various strategies that the family members employ in dealing with their own Jewish-German biographies. The director Hakan Savaş Mican showcased the complexity of the individual characters with great humour and empathy. Both the team and the network members were very touched and impressed by the production!
‘Sasha Marianna Salzmann demonstrates great chutzpah in her telling of the story of a family oscillating between pain and joy. It is the story of an astonishing disintegration that has the power to bring people closer to themselves and to each other.’ (Gorki)
The network members met for an informal discussion in the theatre canteen following the performance. Actress and Dagesh network member Alexandra Sinelnikova shared insights into the rehearsal process and her experience embodying the daughter character, Rahel. In addition, new members of the Dagesh network were welcomed into the group, while those in attendance spoke about their many ongoing art projects before one network member spoke to the group about the new initiative ‘lost jew crew’.
We would like to thank all involved for the wonderful evening, for their participation in the planning, and for the enlightening discussions. We are looking forward to more network meetings in the new year!
‘I found the exhibition format and the works presented incredibly enriching. I hope to share my artworks with the network at the next opportunity.’ (Dagesh network member)
On 11 September, over 40 members of the Dagesh artists’ network came together in Berlin for a network meeting. The evening centred on the artists sharing their current projects. Five network members presented their latest works and ongoing research to the network members in attendance.
Multimedia artist Sarai Meyron opened the evening with her video work Memory of maybe tomorrow, which grapples with the complexity of Zionism. Graphic designer Liad Shadmi then outlined some key aspects of the history of modern Hebrew fonts and how they are realised in various designs. In his research, he is concerned with the question of how Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin characters can be made compatible within a design. In this context, Liad Shadmi emphasised the relevance of collaboration between graphic designers of different linguistic backgrounds, showing illustrative examples.
After that presentation, filmmaker Irina Rubina screened her animated film Contradiction of Emptiness, which celebrated its world premiere at Animafest Zagreb 2024. The film addresses the ongoing pain resulting from Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine. Irina Rubina then explained the special way in which the film was made as well as the context of its creation as part of a scholarship residency in Canada. Filmmaker Robert Schultzman also presented his new film, Seagulls. Seagulls depicts a Ukrainian refugee dancer and addresses the complexity of masculinity, flight, friendship, and identity. Finally, Alex Stolze presented his new album, ש ורוח Noise and Wind. The tracks represent Alex Stolze’s musical approach to grappling with the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. The album celebrates its release on 25 October 2024.
After the exhibition, the network members in attendance discussed the projects that had been presented, as well as their own plans and the challenges they are currently facing in their artistic work.
We would like to thank everyone involved for the intensive and enriching exchange. Special thanks go out to the artists who shared their projects and ideas with the network, as well as to Dagesh curator Daniel Laufer for helping to conceptualise the evening.
