AN EVENT THAT EMPOWERS & CONNECTS
Jônatas Chimen Dias DaSilva-Benayon, MFA, is an artist, scholar, and a first-generation returnee to Judaism. He is a descendant of Converso, who has spent over 20 years creating narratives of survival, exile, memory, resilience, and return, through art, lectures, film, workshops, and rituals. Jônatas illuminates the hidden histories of Jewish communities from Iberia and the Americas, centered on the Converso experience, transforming each encounter into a communal act of resilience and dialogue. Jônatas' work has been exhibited widely in museums, biennials, and contemporary art institutions across Europe and the Americas. In 2025, he was featured at the 12th Latin America Week in Paris with Étreinte Océan, a site-specific installation supported by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Jônatas holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an Master of Fine Arts from Florida International University.
It is time to promote Jewish Values, Identity, and Experiences of Resilience:
ART EXHIBITS . LECTURES . WORKSHOPS . SHABBATONS
Together, we will explore life-changing themes:
1. Fire in the Ashes: Jewish Resilience Across Exile and Persecution
2. The Miracle of Return: From Longing to Homecoming
3. Art as Resistance: Memory, Identity, and Spiritual Strength
4. Women Who Carried the Future: Matriarchs of Survival in Converso Communities
5. Hidden Prayers, Hidden Lives: Courage in the Shadow of the Inquisition
6. Trade, Piracy, and Survival: Sephardic Life on the High Seas
7. Archives of Silence: Unearhing Suppressed Jewish Histories in the New World
8. Cartographies of Courage: Mapping Escape, Refuge, and Hope
9. Light in the Darkness: Secret Rituals of Hope in Hidden Communities
10. Languages of Defiance: Hebrew, Ladino, and Whispered Faith
11. Recipes of Resistance: Food as Code and Cultural Memory
12. The Journey Back: The Emotional and Spiritual Process of Return
13. Echoes of Strength: Sephardic Past, Present, and Legacy in the Americas
14. Resilient Roots: Working with Brazilian Returnees, 2009–2025
15. From Shadows to Spotlight: Converso Art from Velázquez to Modigliani
16. A Martyr’s Stage: The Life and Voice of a Marrano Dramatist in Colonial Brazil
17. Pirkei Avot Ignited: Art, Ethics, and Spiritual Survival
18. Laws of Return, Tests of Identity: Modern Iberian Policies and Jewish Memory
In addition, we will enjoy very unique moments:
1. Fire in the Ashes: Jewish Resilience Across Exile and Persecution
2. The Miracle of Return: From Longing to Homecoming
3. Art as Resistance: Memory, Identity, and Spiritual Strength
4. Women Who Carried the Future: Matriarchs of Survival in Converso Communities
5. Hidden Prayers, Hidden Lives: Courage in the Shadow of the Inquisition
6. Trade, Piracy, and Survival: Sephardic Life on the High Seas
7. Archives of Silence: Unearhing Suppressed Jewish Histories in the New World
8. Cartographies of Courage: Mapping Escape, Refuge, and Hope
9. Light in the Darkness: Secret Rituals of Hope in Hidden Communities
10. Languages of Defiance: Hebrew, Ladino, and Whispered Faith
11. Recipes of Resistance: Food as Code and Cultural Memory
12. The Journey Back: The Emotional and Spiritual Process of Return
13. Echoes of Strength: Sephardic Past, Present, and Legacy in the Americas
14. Resilient Roots: Working with Brazilian Returnees, 2009–2025
15. From Shadows to Spotlight: Converso Art from Velázquez to Modigliani
16. A Martyr’s Stage: The Life and Voice of a Marrano Dramatist in Colonial Brazil
17. Pirkei Avot Ignited: Art, Ethics, and Spiritual Survival
18. Laws of Return, Tests of Identity: Modern Iberian Policies and Jewish Memory
In addition, we will enjoy very unique moments:
- Sephardic and Ladino Shabbat traditions, from Kabbalat Shabbat to Havdalah, through songs, rituals, and shared moments.
- Hands-on creative sessions for all ages, including painting, collaborative installations, and immersive art-making that draw on participants’ genealogical research, family history, and ancestral storytelling.
- Art tours, Q&A's and much more.
Immersive Installation:
- In Thy Tent I Dwell — A site-specific 3m x 3m installation on displacement and inherited memory, built from the artist's family archives: migration documents, photographs, inquisitional records. A space of resilience and shelter shaped by Diaspora. First shown at the Frost Art Museum (Miami, 2015) Featured at Latin America Week (Paris, 2025)
Painting Series:
- The Journey — Award-winning series (Anti-Defamation League Art of the Year, 2015) reflecting Jônatas’ return to Judaism and Jewish survival in post-Inquisition times, from Iberia to the Americas.
- The Locus Amoenus — Exodus-inspired works on dispersion and refuge, blending Brazilian, American, and French landscapes.
- Made of Blood & Gold — On exile, displacement, and redemption. Muted tones, archetypal figures, and the red heifer as symbols of rupture and renewal.
Film & Video
BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS:
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FUNDRAISING & ART COLLECTING:
Jônatas views art as a catalyst for dialogue on Jewish identity, memory, and resilience. His unique fundraising and collecting model integrates art into community life:
Jônatas views art as a catalyst for dialogue on Jewish identity, memory, and resilience. His unique fundraising and collecting model integrates art into community life:
- 50% of proceeds from artwork sales donated to the hosting community or chosen charity
- Opening and closing receptions recommended to foster engagement and sales
- Communities build a legacy of art patronage while supporting cultural and social initiatives
PROGRAM PRICING:
- 1-Day Event: Lectures, Q&As, film screenings, and small works exhibition — $950
- 2-Day Event: Exhibits, immersive installation, guided tours, and lectures — $1,200
- 3-Day Event: Full program: Exhibitions, workshops, lectures, Shabbat rituals, and fundraising opportunities — $1,500