News

Conversations around the term ‘cultural appropriation’ have been going on throughout the United States in the past few years. But what happens when you take those conversations across continents? To Poland, to be exact. FestivALT is an independent arts collective in Krakow that takes a critical look at contemporary Jewish culture in Poland.

Festiwal Kultury Żydowskiej ma w Krakowie konkurencję. "FestivALT" to nazwa niezależnego kolektywu artystycznego i zarazem nowego festiwalu alternatywnej sztuki żydowskiej. Program festiwalu łączy teatr, sztuki wizualne, interwencje artystyczne, akcje miejskie i debaty z publicznością.

“The heart, the success and growth of Jewish culture has often involved critical thinking. Critical thinking is traditionally a core element of training in the orthodox world, where two people in a Yeshiva would study together and critique the Torah. Through that process, they learn and become wiser.” This is the tradition that Michael Rubenfeld drew from when he established FestivALT, an arts collective that produces an annual program of radical Jewish art initiatives in Kraków, Poland.

Polish Jews Protest Use of Former Krakow Synagogue as Cafe

Humor, sceptycyzm i chucpa! FestivALT, czyli wydarzenie poświęcone alternatywnej sztuce żydowskiej, rozpocznie się 21 czerwca.

Trzecia edycja FestivALTu, niezależnej prezentacji alternatywnej sztuki żydowskiej, trwać będzie od 21 do 30 czerwca w Krakowie. Spektakle, koncerty, wystawy, happeningi, niekonwencjonalne zwiedzania zaplanowano przede wszystkim na Kazimierzu, w dawnej żydowskiej dzielnicy.

The third FestivALT festival featuring independent presentations of Jewish art will run from June 21 to 30 in the southern Polish city of Krakow. Shows, concerts, happenings and unconventional sights are all planned in the former Jewish quarter of Kazimierz.

Na krakowski odpust Emaus ponownie zawita performance kolektywu FestivALT. Odwiedzający odpust wielkanocny będą mogli zapoznać się z prawdziwym „Żydem na szczęście”.

Rebuilding Jewish culture in Poland is no easy task after its near-total erasure, and more than anything it takes imagination.

Meet the Canadian who wants to be Poland's Luckiest Jew

The Jewish Culture Festival that annually takes over the streets of the old Jewish quarter of this city for 10 days has become such a well-established part of the calendar that it has spun off an alternative festival.

KRAKOW, Poland (JTA) – For four days this summer, a trio of artists and performers dressed in rabbinical-looking garb took turns sitting at a table behind an open air booth hawking good luck to passers-by alongside a bustling street in the heart of Kazimierz, this city’s lively Jewish quarter.