Meet 2026 LABA BAY AREA fellow KEVIN SMOKLER @smokler
Kevin Smokler is the author of 4 books about pop culture including most recently BREAK THE FRAME: CONVERSATIONS WITH WOMEN FILMMAKERS (Oxford, 2025) and the co-director of the award winning 2023 documentary VINYL NATION and the upcoming short documentary MIDDLE GROUNDS. Born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he's lived for the last 25 years in his adopted home of San Francisco.
On the occasion of the closing event of our first-ever LABA Alumni Exchange Program, we chose to celebrate what exchange can truly look like - through acts of transmission: rituals, blessings, movement, stories, and shared gestures.
A special thank you to the alumni who traveled all the way from New York, Paris, and Berlin - @dani.alha@sharon.alfassi@julierebeccapoulain@theprofaneangel - and to our LABA BCN community, along with everyone beyond it, who joined us in building this special space and bringing it to life.
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Amb motiu de l’esdeveniment de cloenda del nostre primer programa d’intercanvi d’alumni de LABA, vam voler celebrar allò que pot significar realment l’intercanvi - a través d’actes de transmissió: rituals, benediccions, moviment, històries i gestos compartits.
Un agraïment especial als alumni que van viatjar des de Nova York, París i Berlín - @dani.alha@sharon.alfassi@julierebeccapoulain@theprofaneangel - així com a la comunitat de LABA BCN i a totes les persones que es van sumar a fer possible aquest espai tan especial.
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Con motivo del evento de clausura de nuestro primer programa de intercambio de alumni de LABA, quisimos celebrar lo que realmente puede significar el intercambio - a través de actos de transmisión: rituales, bendiciones, movimiento, historias y gestos compartidos.
Un agradecimiento especial a los alumni que viajaron desde Nueva York, París y Berlín - @dani.alha@sharon.alfassi@julierebeccapoulain@theprofaneangel - y a nuestra comunidad de LABA BCN, así como a todas las personas que se sumaron a construir y dar vida a este espacio tan especial.
Meet 2026 LABA BAY AREA fellow Molly Almeida
@o_e_u_e
Molly Almeida explores spiritual concepts through a child-like perspective of wonder. Through dense, illustrative imagery, she invites the viewer into her perception of immanence. Molly is a visual artist with a focus on drawing and works on paper, with a BFA in printmaking from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
LABA Alumni Exchange Program
Acts of Transmission - Closing Event
Artist in residence: Danielle Alhassid
Visiting artists:
Zero Pilnik (LABA Berlin)
Julie Rebecca Poulain (LABA Paris)
Sharon Alfassi (LABA Paris)
In exchange with LABA Barcelona artists
Join us for workshops and final project presentation, as Casa Adret comes alive, exploring how stories, gestures, and memories move across generations and space.
Casa Adret, April 28
18:00 Doors open
19:00 Final gathering & drinks
Free admission, with registration (limited spots):
Link in bio
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LABA Alumni Exchange Program
Actos de transmisión - EVENTO DE CLAUSURA
Artista en residencia: Danielle Alhassid
Artistas invitados:
Zero Pilnik (LABA Berlin)
Julie Rebecca Poulain (LABA Paris)
Sharon Alfassi (LABA Paris)
En intercambio con artistas de LABA Barcelona
Os invitamos a talleres y presentación final de proyectos, donde Casa Adret cobra vida, explorando cómo historias, gestos y memorias se transmiten entre generaciones y espacios.
Casa Adret, 28 de abril
18:00 Apertura de puertas
19:00 Encuentro final y bebidas
Entrada gratuita con inscripción (plazas limitadas):
Link en bio
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LABA Alumni Exchange Program
Actes de transmissió - ACTE DE CLOENDA
Artista en residència: Danielle Alhassid
Artistes convidats:
Zero Pilnik (LABA Berlin)
Julie Rebecca Poulain (LABA Paris)
Sharon Alfassi (LABA Paris)
En intercanvi amb artistes de LABA Barcelona
Us convidem a tallers i presentació final de projectes, on Casa Adret pren vida, explorant com històries, gestos i memòries es transmeten entre generacions i espais.
Casa Adret, 28 d’abril
18:00 Obertura de portes
19:00 Trobada final i begudes
Entrada gratuïta amb inscripció (places limitades):
Link a la bio
Meet 2026 LABA BAY AREA fellow
Dan Wolf @dannydmic
Dan Wolf (he/him) is a hip-hop artist who works with rap, theater, personal narrative, and history to give voice to the problematic world we live in. His projects have traveled all around the world from theaters and concert halls to museums, schools, and memorial sites where he engages history as a prompt to make vital music and theater that can only live in this moment. He is the co-founder of hip-hop music and theatre collective Felonious and is the Artistic Director of Sound in the Silence, a site-specific historical education performance project.
Meet the LABA NY ‘Name’ fellows for 2026:
Nim Shapira
Documentary film, immersive and interactive media, and concept-driven visual storytelling.
“My given name, Nimrod, carries radically different meanings across cultures. In Hebrew, Nimrod is a biblical rebel and mighty hunter; in American English, the name became a slang insult after a 1950s Looney Tunes cartoon in which Bugs Bunny sarcastically calls the dim-witted hunter Elmer Fudd “Nimrod”—a joke that misunderstood the biblical reference. Discovering this contradiction later in life reshaped how I understood language, identity, and misnaming—an experience that continues to inform my work.”
@14streety
Meet 2026 LABA BAY AREA fellow
Rabbi Camille Shira Angel
@camille_rabbi
Rabbi Camille Shira Angel serves as the first Rabbi-in-Residence at the University of San Francisco since 2017, where she creates vital intergenerational bridges by connecting LGBTQIA+ undergraduates with Bay Area elders 60+ to preserve history and build community across generations. She is archiving the lives and stories of LGBTQIA+ elders from Jewish and other spiritual traditions—pioneers who not only fought for civil rights but also created transformative queer Jewish spaces like Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, exemplifying the queering of religion that defines her scholarly work. She is currently writing her "Field Notes From A Lesbian Rabbi:Queering Religion at a Catholic University."
Art and Research or When Animated Spirits Gather to Read in Yiddish
Wonderful talk as part of our LABA Alumni Exchange Program
Thank you Danielle Alhassid @dani.alha and Elik Elhanan @elazar48 for a fascinating evening
Great to host @anisiaffek from @lababerlin , together with LABA BCN fellows and alumni
A warm and intimate atmosphere in Casa Adret
Meet 2026 LABA BAY AREA Fellow
MAIA WELBEL @mwelbel
Maia is a writer and dancer based in the Bay Area with roots in the Midwest. Her work explores human oneness with nature, and how empathy is built through written and embodied storytelling. She has a Master's degree in Journalism from Northwestern University and a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Analysis from Pomona College.
Art and Research, or When Animated Spirits Gather to Read in Yiddish
As part of the LABA Alumni Exchange program:
Danielle Alhassid and Elik Elhanan present their collaborative work at the intersection of academic research and installation-based artistic practice, bringing together scholarship, archives, and moving image. The talk will focus on several projects they have developed together around the Tsenerene, a 17th-century Yiddish book often known as the “women’s Bible.”
March 25, 2026, 18:00
Casa Adret, Carrer de Salomó ben Adret 6, Barcelona
Registration link in bio
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Arte e Investigación, o cuando los espíritus animados se reúnen para leer en yidis
En el marco del programa LABA Alumni Exchange:
Danielle Alhassid y Elik Elhanan presentan su trabajo colaborativo en la intersección entre la investigación académica y la práctica artística basada en instalaciones, reuniendo investigación, archivos e imagen en movimiento. La charla se centrará en varios proyectos que han desarrollado conjuntamente en torno al Tsenerene, un libro en yidis del siglo XVII, a menudo conocido como la “Biblia de las mujeres”.
25 de marzo de 2026, 18:00
Casa Adret, Carrer de Salomó ben Adret 6, Barcelona
Inscripción en el enlace de la bio
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Art i recerca, o quan els esperits animats es reuneixen per llegir en jiddisch
En el marc del programa LABA Alumni Exchange:
Danielle Alhassid i Elik Elhanan presenten el seu treball col·laboratiu a la intersecció entre la recerca acadèmica i la pràctica artística basada en instal·lacions, reunint investigació, arxius i imatge en moviment.
La xerrada se centrarà en diversos projectes que han desenvolupat conjuntament al voltant del Tsenerene, un llibre en jiddisch del segle XVII, sovint conegut com la “Bíblia de les dones”.
25 de març de 2026, 18:00
Casa Adret, Carrer de Salomó ben Adret 6, Barcelona
Inscripció a l’enllaç de la bio
#laba #artandresearch #stopmotion #yiddish #barcelonaart
Meet 2026 LABA BAY AREA fellow
Alex Asher Daniel @alexasherdaniel
Alex Asher Daniel is a multidisciplinary artist and composer with a practice including sound installation, painting, film & video, 3D objects and new media. Daniel’s oeuvre of work stems from a lifelong interest in mysticism and spirituality, and his work has been showcased in exhibitions internationally, and resides in permanent collections including The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, The Hip Hop Museum, and the English National Trust. A progeny of the Hip-Hop generation, Daniel’s creative practice is also deeply informed by his passion for music and often includes sound collaborations with emerging and established artists and experiential audio installations.
