2025
Looking Back: The First Edition – Summer 2025
The inaugural Matanel Sefarad Seminar, held in Barcelona during the summer of 2025, was a resounding success.
Over four transformative weeks, participants from around the globe came together to study, explore, and celebrate the richness of Sephardic heritage.
Through dynamic lectures, hands-on workshops, and unforgettable excursions across Catalunya, the seminar created an inspiring intellectual and cultural community.
Bringing together an international group of fellows, the seminar fostered a warm and dynamic community where deep learning grew into lasting connections and friendships. while participants developed their own projects in research, education, and cultural activism.
The warm environment, academic excellence, and profound exchanges of the 2025 edition have set a strong foundation for the future of this unique program—paving the way for the 2026 edition.
2025 Fellows
Nelly Zagury (France)
Artist and educator based in Paris, Nelly explores femininity through jewelry, sculpture, and painting, exhibiting internationally while teaching at the Haute École de Joaillerie.
Kliment Ionah Bannour-Maikov (Spain)
Queer Jewish artist and philosopher based in Barcelona, Ionah merges ceramics and poetry with EU innovation design, exploring identity and transformation.
Kevin Buckland (Spain)
Barcelona-based artivist, Kevin supports climate justice worldwide through creative training, narrative interventions, and global coordination of activist networks.
Lukasz Gorniok (Sweden)
Historian and educator in Stockholm, Lukasz directs Jewish Studies programs and researches modern Jewish cultural and religious history.
Kinga Szemere (Hungary)
Curator and researcher at the Hungarian Jewish Museum, Kinga focuses on medieval Jewish heritage and museology with academic roots in Jerusalem and Budapest.
Agnieszka Baraszko (Sweden)
Project manager at Paideia in Stockholm, Agnieszka coordinates Jewish programs, teaches folklore, and bridges Jewish communities in Sweden and Poland.
Asher Barnea (Israel)
Educator and school leader, Asher integrates civic education and Jewish history to empower diverse students in Israel and abroad.
Anaëlle Gobinet-Choukroun (France)
Independent curator and scholar, Anaëlle explores jewelry, Orientalism, and Sephardic culture through exhibitions and academic collaborations.
Dominique Tomasov Blinder (Spain)
A New York–born architect based in Barcelona, specializing in Jewish heritage as a researcher, educator, and activist. She is known for her work preserving Montjuïc’s historic cemetery and promoting Jewish memory and community in Spain.
Yechiel Bar-Chaim (Czech Republic)
A creative and results-driven professional with a passion for innovation, design, and problem-solving. Dedicated to delivering impactful solutions through collaboration and strategic thinking.
Fernando Cardona Pons (Menorca, Balearic Islands)
Fernando Cardona Pons, aka Ego Sum Lux Mundi, is a Menorca-born tattooist and visual artist. His work fuses mythology and ancient history with modern aesthetics to create a unique artistic style.
Àngela Martín (Spain)
Musicologist and educator, Àngela researches liturgical music and manuscript digitization, blending historical inquiry with music education in Barcelona.
Lisë Stern (USA)
Rabbinical student in Boston, Lisë combines spiritual leadership with chaplaincy and a deep interest in Sephardic culture and culinary history.
Filip Belevski (Serbia)
Researcher and heritage specialist from Belgrade, Filip focuses on Jewish memory, Holocaust education, and museology through local and global projects.
Melsen Kafilaj (Albania)
Scholar of diplomacy and Jewish heritage, Melsen traces Jewish history in Albania while contributing to interfaith and cultural documentation.
Shira Kavita Huizing (Netherlands)
Jewish scholar and activist, Shira explores identity, governance, and Sephardic heritage through academic studies and personal journey.
Enric-Ernest Munt (Spain)
Catalan civil servant and Jewish culture enthusiast, Enric engages in lifelong learning through seminars, language studies, and community activism.
Tom Rousseau (France)
Business student and sustainability advocate, Tom leads environmental initiatives at IPAG Paris. As president of IPAG Green, he blends cultural curiosity with a drive for impact and social change.
Nathalie Kertesz (Spain)
Visual artist, curator, and architect. Co-founder and Creative Director of LABA Barcelona, and active in various Jewish cultural initiatives in Catalonia.
Mounir Arjdal (Spain)
Consulting engineer in aero-geospace with a PhD, MBA, and engineering background. He is also a science journalist, artist, and active leader in various Jewish and intercultural organizations across Europe.
Eyal Lally Bitton (Spain)
Eyal Lally Bitton is an audio-visual artist who explores the techno-poetics of perceptual phenomena. He uses video, amplified sounds and strobing lights to deconstruct cinema and music, creating uncanny, powerful and transformative experiences.
Margot Fuentes Kratter (Chile)
Margot Fuentes Kratter, born in Chile and living in Barcelona since 16 years. Promoter of cultural jewish initiatives as Limud Bcn, several study groups around the text, IEJC and Ze Kollel alumni, etc. Agricultural engineer by profession and more recently embroiderer.