If you are sceptical about “manifesting” – the notion that thinking positively about a desired outcome will help make it happen – hearing Liat Rosenthal’s trajectory to becoming the head of Jewish Culture Month might be enough to put your scepticism to one side.
“I was thinking that we needed something like this, and then I got a call from a friend, who said: ‘There is this guy called Phil you need to speak to as he’s been talking about Jewish Culture Month.’”
“Phil” was Phil Rosenberg, the president of the Board of Deputies, who came up with the idea of a month where the cultural contributions of the Jewish community could be shared with wider UK society. Using the strapline of “Less Oy, More Joy”, he hoped that it would expand people’s knowledge of Jewish life and history beyond the Holocaust and antisemitism as a whole.
In the aftermath of the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green last week, and arson attacks on Hatzola ambulances and shuls, as well as the fatal terrorist attack in Manchester on Yom Kippur, this goal seems particularly pertinent now.
Liat, whose background is in curating and production, was thinking along the same lines when she applied for the role. She undertook a rigorous interview process, and was appointed as the Board’s director of culture, education and communities in December.
“Getting this job felt like beshert,” she says when we meet at the headquarters of the Board of Deputies in north-west London. “The British Jewish community has had a hard couple of years, and there has been such an enthusiastic response to this project. It’s really needed. People want something Jewish to celebrate, something which is public facing, which they can share with their neighbours and colleagues.”
The initial objective was to oversee a programme of around 30 events, but after inviting proposals from the community and beyond, they now have about 100 on the programme, ranging from food fairs, workshops and comedy nights to heritage tours and film screenings. The festival will run from May 16 to June 16, coinciding with the Hebrew month of Sivan.
“For me, Jewish culture is rooted in home, food, community and shared values and love of debate, but it was really important for us that the wider Jewish community could think about how they wanted to celebrate Jewish culture, which was why we were very broad in our invitation for proposals, rather than being prescriptive. We have gone for a dynamic and porous model, which has developed organically.”
Liat was head of community programming at Jewish cultural centre JW3 from 2011 to 2015 before working at Tate Modern for ten years as its senior creative producer, where she launched the Lates programme – free cross-arts cultural evenings – which attracted some 12 to 14,000 visitors.
She is particularly excited that the gallery is going to be part of Jewish Culture Month, hosting “collection conversations” led by staff and Tate volunteers, inviting visitors to explore works by Jewish artists in the collection. They will also host ten-minute talks during the month on Jewish artists in their collection.
Other national cultural centres taking part include the British Museum, the Southbank Centre, Manchester Museum and the V&A, with the latter holding six events. “Sir Tristram Hunt [director of V&A] has been brilliant,” says Liat. “All these cultural organisations understand what an important initiative this is.”
But as important as the large, well-known institutions taking part are the smaller organisations – many Jewish, others not – who are hoping that their offerings will entice non-Jewish visitors through their doors to get a taste of Jewish culture. “Jewish Culture Month provides a framework to amplify everyone’s work and is a great way to support a lot of different cultural activities, whether these are community events, artists on tour, particular venues or restaurants. Our role at the Board of Deputies is to enable people to come forth and flourish,” says Liat.
While her job feels like a natural fit for someone who has worked in both the Jewish and the wider cultural field, it’s a far cry from growing up in Medway, north Kent, where there was little by way of a Jewish community.
She and her parents had moved to the UK when she was three from Kibbutz Eilon in the north of Israel, and she spent many holidays there with grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. It was during these long summers on the kibbutz that her love of arts and culture took root.
She is related to the late Meir Davidson, one of the founders of the kibbutz and a talented mosaicist, who built its striking sculpture garden, while her grandfather, Saba Adam, put his artistic bent to repurposing unwanted objects around the kibbutz. “He would piece together old bikes to make a fence around the house, and he once created a caterpillar out of tennis balls.”
Kibbutz Keshet Eilon's sculpture garden, created by Meir Davidson, a relative of Liat (Photo: courtesy)[Missing Credit]
The kibbutz is also famous for its classical music masterclasses, which it runs out of the Keshet Eilon Music Centre, and which attract string-players from around the world. (The war has forced the seminars to relocate to Spain for the past two years.)
Liat recalls “being a kid and hearing all this classical music on the kibbutz. The musicians would come into the dining room and give concerts.”
While her own musical endeavours consisted of “playing the recorder in church” while growing up in Kent, she ended up taking a degree in visual culture – comprising art, history, film and architecture – at Nottingham University. Later, she got a place at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in Belsize Park to do a master’s in puppetry and object theatre.
Why puppetry? “It chose me. Something I think is really important when it comes to the arts is that you can’t always articulate why; you just have to follow your instincts. If you can fully articulate why you are creating something, the meaning loses its energy.”
At the same time, she says puppetry holds a particular fascination for her “as it opens up something in storytelling, and the puppet can be this vessel for a lot of meaning”.
While she isn’t planning on bringing puppetry to this year’s cultural festival, she is hopeful that next year’s Jewish Culture Month will feature Yiddish puppet theatre.
Perhaps because of life on Kibbutz Eilon, where culture was intertwined with the everyday, Liat’s impressive résumé tells of someone who wants culture to be enjoyed by as wide an audience as possible – rather than on display in a glass cabinet or the preserve of those who can afford expensive theatre tickets.
After her master’s, she “ran off with the circus”, working for the National Centre for Circus Arts, organising community workshops, such as trapeze, for families and people with disabilities. “I expanded who the circus could be for.”
Similarly, with Jewish Culture Month, she has curated it to allow as many cultural organisations as possible to take part, and many of the events are either free or very reasonably priced.
While promoting Jewish Culture Month to non-Jewish friends and creatives, the first question has usually been: “Where should we eat?”, and Liat is hoping to capitalise on the timing, as the start of the month coincides with Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks – AKA the Festival of Cheesecake. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for someone who isn’t Jewish to find out about a holiday we celebrate through eating cheesecake. Food is such a great connector.”
Starting a project from the ground up seems to be in Liat’s DNA. Whether that’s launching a series in a world-renowned art gallery or curating a Tikkun Leil in an art studio in Hackney, she embraces a ‘DIY spirit’
There will be no shortage of options for foodies during the month, including a Jewish food fair in Liverpool, supper cubs and a panel exploring the interconnection between food and Jewish culture. Members of the Jewish community are also being encouraged to host a Friday night dinner for non-Jewish friends – and post a photo on Instagram – before lighting candles. “Sharing this tradition is a powerful way to celebrate Jewish culture, start conversations and build understanding through food, ritual and hospitality,” says Liat.
Asked how schools have responded, Liat points to a resource hub on their website, which teachers can use to engage their pupils. “Working with schools, along with workplaces, is something we would like to develop more in future years, but the hub is a great place to start.”
Whether Jewish Cultural Month will exist in isolation or become a launch-pad for Jewish arts to play a more prominent role in the British cultural landscape all year round, remains to be seen, but Liat says the community has “plenty of ideas and a lot of energy to work on large ambitious cultural projects” beyond the month.
In future years, she hopes they will also have the time and capacity to commission original work for Jewish Culture Month, but in the run-up to the inaugural event, “we really have been building the plane while flying it and learning as we’ve been going along”.
But starting a project from the ground up seems to be in Liat’s DNA. Whether that’s launching a series for thousands of people in a world-renowned art gallery or curating a Tikkun Leil during Shavuot in an art studio in Hackney, she embraces a “DIY spirit”.
In the meantime, she hopes that now she has built the plane, the Jewish and non-Jewish community will hop on board. “There are so many fantastic cultural organisations working in specific art forms – all with a shared vision of celebrating British Jewish culture.”
Jewish Culture Month runs between May 16 and June 16
For more information, click here or go to: jewishculturemonth.org
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