APPLICATION DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 23, 2020
(We bumped it up a week because this past month has been extremely distracting.)
LABA East Bay is a laboratory for Jewish culture and a program of the JCC East Bay. It is one of three LABAs around with world, with the two others located in New York and Buenos Aires. More national and international locations are currently in the works.
LABA is a non-religious, Jewish house of study and culture laboratory which uses classic Jewish texts to inspire the creation of art, dialogue, and study. The program began in New York City in 2007 at the 14th Street Y, and expanded to Buenos Aires in 2015 and the East Bay in 2019.
LABA aims to present Judaism’s rich literary and intellectual tradition in a free and creative setting, so that these stories and ideas spark new thought and art. The creative output from our House of Study pushes the boundaries of what Jewish art can be and what Jewish texts can teach.
Learn more about LABA East Bay here:
www.labaeastbay.orgTHE HOUSE OF STUDY
For 2021, LABA East Bay will select 5 fellows, a mix of visual artists, writers, dancers, musicians, actors, and other culture-makers, to study classic Jewish texts in a non-religious, open-minded, and accessible setting. The yearly curriculum is centered around a theme, and previous ones include Beauty, Paradise, Eat, Mother, and Humor. The 2021 theme for all LABA locations will be CHOSE-N, and will be explored through writings from the Torah, Talmud, Mishnah, and Zohar alongside select contemporary texts.
LABA PROJECTS
LABA East Bay fellows create new work in response to these texts. Whenever possible, these works will be read, exhibited, and performed at the JCC East Bay as part of our LABAlive series. Each of these events will combine culture with a text teaching, along with a nosh and wine, and will be open to the public.
This year we are asking applicants to submit a pandemic-friendly project proposal, as well as a things-go-back-to-normal version. This might mean proposing a performance that could take place virtually - or maybe a socially-distanced and safe outdoor setting. It might mean thinking about large-scale public art projects instead of more intimate work - or getting creative as to how that more intimate work can be enjoyed by the public in 2021. Write poems? Maybe you'll try some sidewalk chalking. How about performing from the roof of your car? We're also open to ideas about how we can mix artist presentations with workshops for the community. Maybe you show your work at a "Learn with LABA" Zoom?
We are open to all your craziest, Covid-friendly, art for the people, ideas.
THE THEME: CHOSE-N
Decisions, decisions.
Few of us have a healthy relationship with chosenness. How could we? The notion that we, as individuals, have something special, and that specialness needs to be shared with the world just doesn’t sit right. Nevertheless, here we are, trying to shape hearts and change minds through our creative endeavors. Even more uncomfortable is the idea of communal chosenness, which just so happens to be a major plot point in ancient Jewish literature. Jews, so it goes, are the “chosen people.”
Doing the choosing ourselves can be equally fraught. When we pick one person, one life path, or one creative project over another, we are inevitably closing the door on many others. The ability to make these decisions is a gift and privilege, but also, sometimes a burden. Our capacity to choose is one of greatest powers, leading to deep joy as well as regret and shame.
This year at LABA East Bay we will explore the power of choice from all angles. What does it feel like to choose? What does it feel like to be chosen? And how do we know whether it is our time to do one or the other?
Most importantly, we’ll have a great time talking, eating, drinking, learning, and laughing in the lush, fertile, free-flowing, romantic, super-serious, and endlessly playful environment of LABA East Bay: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture.
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FAQ FOR LABA EAST BAY ARTIST FELLOW APPLICANTS
1.) Who can apply to LABA East Bay?
Anyone who is curious about classic Jewish texts; wants to study them in a non-theological, non-moralistic, and non-academic manner; and has a desire to use ancient Jewish texts to enrich their creative endeavors. Maybe you're a rabbi, or maybe you've never read a single page of the Torah in your whole life. It doesn't matter. Everyone will be welcome as long as they are up to approaching texts in this fashion. Also, LABA East Bay defines culture-makers very broadly. This includes artists, dancers, actors, musicians, composers, writers, dancers, directors, as well as chefs, landscape architects, video-game designers, and more.
2.) What kind of time obligation is LABA East Bay?
Fellows will meet every 3-4 weeks throughout the year for a three-hour study session, held in the evening. (Likely from 6-9pm if in person or 7-9pm if virtual.) There will be 10-12 study sessions in total, beginning in January 2021 and ending in December 2021, with a short break over the summer months. Fellows will also be expected to work on a LABA East Bay project, which they will presented at some point in 2021. There is no expectation for these projects to be finished in full. We expect LABA fellows present in at least one LABAzooms virtual event and one LABAlive (if/when we're live) event.
3.) Do LABA East Bay projects have to be about Jewish texts or Jewish themes?
Not necessarily. The goal of LABA East Bay is for the ideas, feelings, and contradictions of Jewish texts to inspire new work. Sometimes this yields work that is identifiably Jewish, other times it is not.
4.) Is LABA East Bay a paid fellowship?
Yes! LABA East Bay fellows will receive an $800 study stipend to attend the study sessions. There will also be additional production support available for the LABAlive events or public art projects or performances.
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NOW IT'S YOUR TURN!
Please fill out the application below by NOVEMBER 23, 2020.
Fellows will be announced by DECEMBER 5, 2020.
Please send any questions to:
laba@jcceastbay.org