A networking and learning event for Jewish artists and cultural workers
A conference for Toronto’s Jewish artists and cultural workers exploring the future of Jewish cultural and artistic life.
What future do we want to create together? How can the past and presentation of memory help to inform our present? How do we share our stories to guide our futures?
Considering the current moment, this event will give Jewish artists and cultural professionals a way to come together to learn, share and connect.
The program will emphasize networking, communal learning, and the exploration of Jewish and artistic identity and practices, providing the foundation for building resilience and leadership for Toronto’s Jewish cultural community. The day will include conversations with specialists and local artists, community-building workshops and activities, a showcase of Toronto’s Jewish arts organizations, and facilitated conversations about artistic and Jewish identity.
Who is this event for?
Speakers will represent the spectrum of Toronto’s cultural scene, including visual arts, theatre, film, music, dance, writing, curatorial, arts administration, museums, and heritage.
This event is for Jewish artists, creatives, and cultural workers, or those who produce cultural content with Jewish spaces. This event is also for culture vultures, arts supporters and patrons. Not sure if this event is for you? Please get in touch with us at info@kulturacollective.com
Presented by
Programming Partners
Promotional Partners
Featured Guests
We are excited to welcome a group of artists, cultural producers, and educators for a series of conversations and workshops.
Aaron Henne
Dara Solomon
Jennifer Podemski
Michael Fraiman
Sidura Ludwig
Jonah Strub
Na'ama Freeman
Faye Blum
Jordi Mand
Jaclyn Grossman
Miriam Borden
Orly Zebak
Zev Moses
Julie Lockhart
Sharoni Sibony
Jessica Waks
Avery Saltzman
Naomi Harris
Erez Zobary
Eric Stein
Alysa-Beth Engel
Edith Barabash
Josh Saltzman
to come
to come
Sam Mogelonsky
Rachel Libman
Hanna Schacter
Shayna Fine
to come
register and join us on
November 24, 2024
Your ticket includes access to all conversations and workshops, admission to the Toronto Holocaust Museum for a self-guided tour, as well as kosher refreshments throughout the day, and a dinner.
Tickets are $36 each (plus processing fees and taxes).
If you require a subsidy to join the event, please email us.
Conversations and Workshops
Join theatre dybbuk for a movement workshop as we come together and start the day.
With: Aaron Henne and Julie A. Lockhart
Unknown futures are always unfolding, emerging, and revealing themselves in stages. A voice from antiquity, the voice of Ben Bag Bag, speaks to us across time and invites us into a way of orienting ourselves in life, in relationships, in creativity: “Turn it and turn it for everything is in it” (Pirkei Avot 5:22). In this session, we’ll use the Jewish Studio Process — a combination of textual inquiry and hands-on creative process — to uncover how our life, our work, our identity, our relationships, our art might change as we continuously ask the question embedded in the phrase, “Hafoch bah” — What else could this be? Please come prepared to participate in discussion and creative process. Art materials will be provided.
With: Sharoni Sibony
Participants can present project ideas and receive supportive feedback from cultural producers. Note – our “dragons” are friendly!
With: Zev Moses, Orly Zebak, Michael Fraiman, Eric Stein, Avery Saltzman
How do creatives use Yiddish language and themes to inspire their work.
With: Miriam Borden, Jaclyn Grossman, Jonah Strub, Naomi Harris
Jewish creatives share insight on how they infuse Jewish ideas and identity into their personal and professional practices.
With: Edith Barabash, Erez Zobary, Jordi Mand, Josh Saltzman and Sam Mogelonsky
Our programme will begin with grounding through gentle movement and guided meditation followed by playful art making activities. All are welcome including curious, absolute beginners. Seating and art materials will be provided.
With: Alysa-Beth Engel
A conversation about how to capture narratives in our backyards and tell local Jewish stories today.
With: Jess Waks, Faye Blum, Sidura Ludwig, Na’ama Freeman
A conversation with thought leaders on how examining often difficult events of the past can inform our present and inspire the future.
With: Aaron Henne, Jennifer Podemski and Dara Solomon
The Toronto Holocaust Museum inspires visitors to think deeply about the tragedies of the Holocaust and make connections between this history, world events, and contemporary Canadian life.
The Toronto Holocaust Museum is a space for education and dialogue about this vital history and its ongoing relevance. The Museum serves as a powerful and growing force against antisemitism, bigotry and hatred in all its forms. Our state-of-the-art facility is the premier destination for Holocaust education in the city showcasing cutting edge technology, including interactive Holocaust survivor testimony stations at the core of each exhibit space and augmented reality tablet tours. The Museum deepens the public’s knowledge and understanding while, inspiring visitors to think critically about the tragedies of the Holocaust and to make connections between the Holocaust, world events, and contemporary Canadian life.
In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the Ontario Jewish Archives (OJA) is pleased to present its newest exhibition, the OJA’s “50th Anniversary Scrapbook.” Through the beautifully illustrated display of archival records, the exhibition guides visitors on a journey to discover the diverse experiences and achievements of Ontario’s Jewish community, and to consider the central role of archives in preserving and connecting us to those stories.
Now, the largest repository of Jewish life in Canada, the exhibition demonstrates the depth of the collection, and features fifty stories from the thousands of individual record donations that have contributed to the archive’s remarkable evolution and growth.
Event Schedule
Event schedule subject to change
- 1:00 PM - Registration
- 1:30 PM - Welcome Workshop
- 2:30 PM– First Sessions - choice of:
- Option A: Self-guided visit to the Toronto Holocaust Museum
- Option B: The Pitch Workshop
- Option C: Kvelling or Kvetching: Making Yiddish Art
- Option D: Hafoch Bah - Turn It and Turn It, What Else Could This Be?
- 3:30 PM - Coffee Break
- 4:15 PM - Second Sessions - Choice of:
- Option E: Self-guided visit to the Toronto Holocaust Museum
- Option F: Local Storytelling
- Option G: Jewish Infusions
- Option H: Art and Meditation Workshop
- 5:15 PM – Dinner
- 6:00 PM – Fireside Chat: Past, Present, Future
- 7:00 PM – Closing Remarks
- 7:15 PM – Dessert Reception and Schmooze
Artists in residence
theatre dybbuk
theatre dybbuk creates provocative new works that blend physical theatre with poetry and music for exciting, utterly singular live events. The company explores the rich world of Jewish history, building lyrical performances that illuminate universal human experience for contemporary audiences. With an in-depth development process that can range from a few months to three years, Artistic Director Aaron Henne builds each piece with a cast of dedicated professional actors, designers, musicians, and scholars.
The resulting works, from the dark and visceral dance theatre of cave… a dance for lilith to the shadowy and immersive hell prepared: a ritual exorcism inspired by kabbalistic principles, performed within a dominant cultural context, are challenging and beautiful to behold.
Learn more at www.theatredybbuk.org
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theatre dybbuk will be completing a residency with the Museum of Jewish Montreal from November 14-18, 2024 as part of their Canadian tour before arriving in Toronto.
For more information on events in Montreal please click here.
Programs with theatre Dybbuk
In-process Reading of Selections from Dracula (Annotated)
Wednesday, November 20 from 7 PM – 9 PM, Toronto Holocaust Museum
Tickets: $12
Get a sneak peek at theatre dybbuk’s next project, in which they investigate Bram Stoker’s Dracula, weaving together their unique blend of historical investigation and heightened theatricality to create a new work from the core of the novel. The project, set to premiere in Los Angeles in September 2025, explores such questions as: How do long-held prejudicial beliefs show up in a popular novel from England written at the turn of the 20th century, and in what ways do those beliefs still operate today? To what extent can perceptions of antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia be deemed as accurate and true, and how much is in the eye of the beholder?
This event includes approximately 75 minutes of performed readings from the in-process work and will be followed by a discussion with the audience.
Heritage, History & Humanity: A Master Class for Theatre Professionals and Storytellers
Thursday, November 21 from 7 PM – 9 PM, Leah Posluns Theatre, Prosserman JCC
Tickets: $25/$18 (plus fees)
theatre dybbuk specializes in using historical narratives that intersect with considerations of identity and heritage to illuminate the forces at play in our contemporary societies.
In this workshop, the artists of theatre dybbuk take participants through a process in which they gain tools to investigate their own personal and/or communal narratives, texts, and turning points as vessels to create new theatrical work that explores the complexities of our world.
This session uses a combination of writing, vocal work, and movement-based techniques.
The Merchant of Venice (Annotated), or In Sooth I Know Not Why I Am So Sad
Saturday, November 23 at 2 PM and 7:30 PM, Leah Posluns Theatre, Prosserman JCC
a theatre dybbuk production written and directed by Aaron Henne and developed with the ensemble
Tickets: $36 (plus fees)
What can a play from sixteenth century England tell us about how antisemitism and other prejudicial beliefs operate in our world today?
theatre dybbuk’s latest theatrical production brings together elements of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice with Elizabethan history and news from the 21st century to expose the underbelly of the classic play. The multidisciplinary work takes a kaleidoscopic view of the ways in which members of a society displace their fears on the “other” during times of upheaval.
The run time is approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes, including one 15 minute intermission.
Recap from the 2023 event
Jewish Futures 2023. Photos by Shay Markowitz.
FAQ's
The Prosserman JCC and the Toronto Holocaust Museum are located on the Sherman Campus in the Sheff Family Building, Charlotte & Lewis Steinberg Family Cultural Pavilion at 4588 Bathurst Street, west of Bathurst between Sheppard Avenue and Finch Avenue. At the stoplight, turn onto the campus.
This event is for Jewish artists, creatives, and cultural workers, or those who produce cultural content with Jewish spaces.
Participants will represent the spectrum of Toronto’s cultural scene, including visual arts, theatre, film, music, dance, writing, curatorial, arts administration, museums, and heritage.
Not sure if this event is for you? Please get in touch with us at info@kulturacollective.com
Tickets for the Jewish Futures event on November 24, 2024 are $36 (plus processing fees) to attend.
The other events and performances during theatre dybbuk’s residency are priced separately
If you require a subsidy to join the event, please email us at info@kulturacollective.com
We will be holding this event entirely in person. It will not be recorded or live streamed.
Yes, there will be security at the event. When you enter the Prosserman JCC, you will be asked your reason for visiting and to show your ID as well as your ticket for the event.
Security monitors the Sherman Campus and will be on site all day.
Once you have entered the campus, make a right and follow the road to the security booth. Inform the security you are dropping off for the Prosserman JCC and they will direct you to the drop-off layby to your left.
Yes, and it’s free.
Once you have entered the campus, turn left and follow the road. Check in at the security booth and inform them you are visiting the Prosserman JCC. You may be asked to verify your proof of ticket purchase. After security has admitted you, visitor parking will be available.
- From the Bathurst subway station: #7 Bathurst North bus.
- From Wilson Station: # 160 Bathurst North bus.
- From Sheppard Station: #84 Sheppard West, then transfer to a Bathurst North bus.
- From Downsview Station: #84 Sheppard West, then transfer to a Bathurst North bus.
Buses will drop you off on Bathurst Street, just south of the Bathurst Street entrance to the building. Proceed onto the campus by foot on the west side of the street and enter through the main doors of the Prosserman JCC facing Bathurst Street.
Yes, all refreshments and dinner will be certified kosher from Eisenburg’s. Please let us know any dietary needs upon registration.
Yes. The Sherman Campus is wheelchair accessible. When you register for the event, please note any accessibility needs and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Yes. You are welcome to join for only a part of the program. However, we cannot offer a discounted ticket price.
No. We are unable to provide childcare during the event.
No, we cannot offer a tax receipt for event tickets.
If you are interested in supporting the event, please email info@kulturacollective.com
We are grateful to our partners and supporters.
UJA will be filming and/or taking photos of you and/or your dependent(s) during this event. Through this content, we hope to promote UJA’s fundraising campaigns, which will ultimately help us help those in need. By purchasing tickets, you give UJA the absolute right to and/or permission to publish your photo or video in the following manners:
- On UJA websites, affiliated sites, and blogs
- On UJA-owned and managed social media websites and social media ads
- In UJA produced video
- In UJA printed materials and advertisements
You understand that UJA will own all rights, including the copyright to any photos and videos. You hereby waive any right that you may have to inspect and/or approve the finished product that may be used in connection therewith, or the use to which it may be applied.
Following the event, a short feedback survey will be sent to registered participants by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.
Get in touch with us
Not sure if this event is for you? Have a question about the program? Do you require a subsidy to attend? Please send us a note below or get in touch with us at info@kulturacollective.com
Presented by: Kultura Collective, Prosserman JCC, Toronto Holocaust Museum, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, and theatre dybbuk
Programming Partners: CANVAS, The Azrieli Foundation, the Covenant Foundation, and the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto Jewish Foundation
Promotional partners: Museum of Jewish Montreal, Niv Magazine and The CJN’s Culturally Jewish podcast
Supported by
Project support from
