FestivALT in Barcelona!

Amidst the whirlwind of our March travels, we had the pleasure of leading a workshop at the annual meeting of the organizers of the European Days of Jewish Culture (EDJC) in Barcelona!

Over two intense days filled with inspiring discussions and workshops, Lena Rubenfeld – FestivALT’s Co-Artistic Director – took part in the panel “Women and the Tanakh: A Personal Perspective”, sharing reflections on women’s voices (and their absence) in Jewish tradition. She also led the workshop “Rewriting the Margins: Jewish Memory, Art & Radical Storytelling”, which explored how curators can engage with marginalized Jewish narratives through innovative, artistic, and participatory interventions. Participants worked with examples of performative memory, site-specific art, and counter-curatorial practices from FestivALT’s work, and took part in a hands-on curatorial exercise, designing their own interventions in local contexts.

We also had the opportunity to meet with our partners from LABA Barcelona, with whom we’re developing a collaboration – more updates coming soon!

Rewriting the Margins: Jewish Memory, Art & Radical Storytelling

This workshop explores how curators can engage with marginalized Jewish narratives through innovative artistic and participatory interventions. Drawing on FestivALT’s work in performative memory, site-specific installations, and counter-curation, participants will examine Jewish heritage as a palimpsest—layered, contested, and continuously rewritten. Through case studies of FestivALT’s interventions, such as the Chewra Tehilim project and artistic disruptions of Kazimierz’s commercialized Jewish space, we will explore the ethical and political challenges of curating Jewish absence.

Participants will engage in a hands-on curatorial exercise, selecting a site from their own cities or institutions and brainstorming ways to reclaim lost Jewish narratives through art, performance, and digital storytelling. The session will encourage a radical rethinking of Jewish memory work, equipping curators with new tools to create projects that challenge dominant narratives, engage diverse audiences, and make Jewish heritage more inclusive and dynamic.