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Montreal Jewish Arts Collaborative

Montreal Jewish Arts Collaborative

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Montreal Jewish Arts Collaborative logo

The Montreal Jewish Arts Collaborative (MJAC) is a group of artists, creators, cultural conveners, and industry professionals coming together over a shared interest and excitement for where and how contemporary arts meet Jewish culture! Membership is simple: either come to an MJAC event, sign up for the newsletter, or be a MJAC partner org. alum (more on that below). That’s it!

Our community welcomes those of all backgrounds and at all levels in their practice, with a focus on emerging and new practitioners whose work touches on Jewish themes. Above all, MJAC is a way to put curious minds in touch, foster new collaborations, and bring Montreal’s creative minds the resources, events, and opportunities they need to explore and grow creatively!

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The Montreal Jewish Arts Collaborative (MJAC) is a group of artists, creators, cultural conveners, and industry professionals coming together over a shared interest and excitement for where and how contemporary arts meet Jewish culture! Membership is simple: either come to an MJAC event, sign up for the newsletter, or be a MJAC partner org. alum (more on that below). That’s it!

IMG_8288

Our community welcomes those of all backgrounds and at all levels in their practice, with a focus on emerging and new practitioners whose work touches on Jewish themes. Above all, MJAC is a way to put curious minds in touch, foster new collaborations, and bring Montreal’s creative minds the resources, events, and opportunities they need to explore and grow creatively!

MJAC at a Glance

MJAC at a Glance

Gathering Montreal Artists Across Disciplines

Meet, connect, and collaborate with artists working in different (or similar!) disciplines (fine art, theatre, music, design – you name it, it’s probably here)

Year-Round Events

Through the MJAC Newsletter access workshops and seminars, plus be the first to know about upcoming opportunities and events

Jewish Culture, for Everyone!

An artistic community for Jewish creators…and anyone else interested in creatively exploring Jewish themes, culture, heritage, and intercultural connections. All are welcome to MJAC!

Stay Connected with MJAC

Sign up for the MJAC newsletter and be the first to hear about workshops, meetups, drop-in studio hours, and creative opportunities. Connect with a dynamic community of artists, creators, and cultural innovators exploring where contemporary art meets Jewish culture.

What you’ll get, straight to your inbox:

  • Exclusive event invites; be the first to hear about performances, workshops, gatherings, and more!
  • Opportunities to grow your creative practice (grants*, open calls, and artist support).
  • A creative network – Connect and collaborate with fellow artists.

Be part of the network—sign up today!

*Grants are available to MJAC members who have participated in an artist support program from one of our three partner organizations.

Gathering Montreal Artists Across Disciplines

Meet, connect, and collaborate with artists working in different (or similar!) disciplines (fine art, theatre, music, design – you name it, it’s probably here)

Year-Round Events

Through the MJAC Newsletter access workshops and seminars, plus be the first to know about upcoming opportunities and events

Jewish Culture, for Everyone!

An artistic community for Jewish creators…and anyone else interested in creatively exploring Jewish themes, culture, heritage, and intercultural connections. All are welcome to MJAC!

Stay Connected with MJAC

Sign up for the MJAC newsletter and be the first to hear about workshops, meetups, drop-in studio hours, and creative opportunities. Connect with a dynamic community of artists, creators, and cultural innovators exploring where contemporary art meets Jewish culture.

What you’ll get, straight to your inbox:

  • Exclusive event invites; be the first to hear about performances, workshops, gatherings, and more!
  • Opportunities to grow your creative practice (grants*, open calls, and artist support).
  • A creative network – Connect and collaborate with fellow artists.

Be part of the network—sign up today!

*Grants are available to MJAC members who have participated in an artist support program from one of our three partner organizations.

Partner Programs

Partner Programs

The Montreal Jewish Arts Collaborative is a collaboration between three of Canada’s leading Jewish arts organizations: the Museum of Jewish Montreal, KlezKanada, and the Segal Centre for Performing Arts. Each organization brings a wealth of expertise in a diverse set of arts practices, meaning we can offer mentorship, funding, skill-building, and networking across disciplines.

The Museum of Jewish Montreal’s Microgrants are seed-funding to support new and emerging artists or cultural creators in the first or early stages of a creative project related to Jewish life, heritage, or identity.

Klez Kanada’s Azrieli Scholarship Program is a merit-based grant which brings together young artists and scholars (ages 18-36) to study Yiddish culture and Jewish music at KlezKanada’s annual Summer Retreat.

The Segal Centre’s JAM Program seeks to support emerging theatre makers of any age who are working on projects with Jewish themes or who are engaged in issues of Jewish identity

Get Involved

Get Involved

Coming Up

Opportunities

Applications are now closed, please check back in fall 2025 for our next open call!

  • Expanded Audience
  • Alumni Collaboration
  • Vitrine Installation (coming soon!)

Funded Projects

Funded Projects

2025-2026

Aguas is a performance by a trio of musicians whose family histories, shaped by rivers, migration, and memory, span continents. Featuring Damián Birbrier (saxophone), Amichai Ben Shalev (bandoneon), and Vovô Saramanda (percussion), the group draws on inherited memories to create music that flows between personal history and collective resonance.

2024-2025

An award-winning pianist and skillful writer and performer, Gili Loftus presented a concert program created in collaboration with US-based puppeteer and playwright Jake (Yankl) Krakovsky entitled “Don Giovanni and the Golem walk into a Museum…“. The program utilizes theatrical puppet performance in conversation with musical and poetic components to explore the mythology behind the “Golem” creature of Jewish mystical folklore and its possible influences on the creation and staging of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni (1787). The project is an outgrowth of Loftus’s 2021 Microgrant “Ida’s Salon” program.

Written by Daniel Carkner and illustrated by Ava Berkson, the chapbook Elenkrig is an homage to the 20th century New York-based Ukrainian Klezmer musician and seamstress Eva Elenrkig. With grey scale and fluid line drawings, Elenkrig depicts Eva’s tumultuous experiences within the garment industry but also her balalaika musicianship and family dynamics, allowing readers insight into the complex life of a young Jewish woman of her time.

Committed to herbalism and its ties to Jewish rituals, Celia Robinovitch facilitated an herbalist Learning Circle which invited guests to read and write about diasporic land-based traditions alongside guest writer Ami Weintraub. This workshop was an outgrowth from Celia’s initial project with MJM where she guided guests in creating herbal besamim pouches and oxymels.

MJAC (Montreal Jewish Arts Collaborative) and its related programming are made possible with thanks to the financial support of the Azrieli Foundation, the Averbach Family Foundation, and CANVAS.

More Ways to Engage

Exhibitions

The Museum’s arts programming and exhibitions seek to share Montreal’s diverse Jewish heritage and highlight contemporary issues and questions through innovative approaches. These include contemporary art exhibitions and performances, pop-up exhibits, and murals.

Events

Our events act as a way to strengthen our audiences’ connections to community and Jewish arts and culture through new experiences. These include concerts, workshops, storytelling events, vernissages, salons and talks, holiday markets, book launches, children’s events, pop-up dinners, and parties.

Microgrants

We are dedicated to supporting the next generation of Montreal’s artistic and cultural leaders through our Microgrant Program for Creative Exploration. Our Microgrants Program provide funding and support to help young adults bring their innovative project ideas relating to Jewish arts, culture and identity to life.

More Ways to Engage

Exhibitions

The Museum’s arts programming and exhibitions seek to share Montreal’s diverse Jewish heritage and highlight contemporary issues and questions through innovative approaches. These include contemporary art exhibitions and performances, pop-up exhibits, and murals.

Events

Our events act as a way to strengthen our audiences’ connections to community and Jewish arts and culture through new experiences. These include concerts, workshops, storytelling events, vernissages, salons and talks, holiday markets, book launches, children’s events, pop-up dinners, and parties.

Microgrants

We are dedicated to supporting the next generation of Montreal’s artistic and cultural leaders through our Microgrant Program for Creative Exploration. Our Microgrants Program provide funding and support to help young adults bring their innovative project ideas relating to Jewish arts, culture and identity to life.