Laba Berlin is a residency program that promotes interdisciplinary dialogue and artistic engagement by Jewish artists living in Berlin, with themes, images, and archetypes drawn from classical religious Jewish texts, in a secular context. It is an initiative of the Jüdisches Zentrum Synagoge Fraenkelufer e.V., which has undertaken the future reconstruction of the destroyed main section of the synagogue to build a new Jewish cultural and community center, of which Laba will be an integral part. It is also part of the international Laba network, which has hubs in New York, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

LABA Berlin was inaugurated in 2021 by Dekel Peretz, together with Bryan Fellbusch and Olaf Kühnemann. Rachel Libeskind, fellow in Laba’s inaugural year, joined the team the following year, as co-creative director, alongside Kühnemann. Together, they designed Laba as a Berlin-Jewish meeting point for the artists to reflect on Jewish heritage and identity from a universal, political and personal prism, exploring its frictions, inherent tensions and intersectional boundaries. It thus allows for the development of Jewish cultural positions that lie beyond the monolithic space so often granted to Jews in contemporary German society – the space of antisemitism, racism and minority positions.

This year, LABA Berlin, geared towards promoting and expanding the Jewish-Muslim dialogue in Germany, has collaborated with the Deutsche Islam Akademie (DIA) to launch a new artist residency – Mar’a’yeh. The name “Mar’a’yeh” (مرايه), meaning “mirror” in Levantine Arabic, contains its Hebrew counterpart, Mar’a (מַראָה), reflecting an inherent connection that, though often hidden, is profound. Artists of Jewish and Muslim heritage were invited to explore the world of Jewish and Islamic texts as a source of inspiration. Specifically, they examine the mystery of LABA network’s annual theme, “Night”, with its fantasies, eroticism, and mysticism that often dissipate at dawn. During the residency at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Kreuzberg, Mar’a’yeh hosted five open studio events where the public was invited to meet the artists and their work in progress in person and to visit their shared studio as an additional space to create potential moments of dialogue, conversation and collaboration. 

The residency opened last May against the complex backdrop of growing polarization and heightened tensions in Germany due to the devastating escalation of violence in Israel-Palestine since October 7, 2023. It is an inspiring demonstration of a sincere interfaith and intercultural dialogue, collaboration and encounter, based on creation, solidarity and empathy. By fostering the development of interpretations, ideas and visions that negotiate the intricacies of the unique Jewish and Muslim identities, the residency challenges populist and separatist perceptions of the two minorities in Germany.

The artists in the residency include: Edna Al-Najar, Yasmine Amal, Rüzgâr Buşki, Abie Franklin, Ali Gharib, Anna Lublina, Maria Margolina, Sami Morhayim, Elvis Osmanović, Ella Ponizovsky Bergelson, Benyamin Reich, Alona Rodeh, Dënalisa Shijaku, and Ozan Zakariya Keskinklić. The final exhibition of the residency will take place from November 7 to December 8, 2024.