Episode 21 - Antisemitism in the arts

This is the first in a planned series of episodes on antisemitism in the arts. The savage attack by Hamas on a music festival and Kibbutz in Israel on October 7 2023 was not subject to universal condemnation as one might expect. Rather it seems to have exposed a seam of antisemitism, which should be surprising given Holocaust memorialisation has become an important part of Western culture over the past 50 years and more. Surprisingly perhaps, the arts have been far from immune to what some call the virus of antisemitism. The Palestinian cause has been taken up as a leftwing one and Art activists and activist celebrities have followed the line.

Many in the arts — including a number of institutions — have been turning a blind eye to the deep antisemitism within the pro-Palestinian movement, particularly among the supporters of Hamas. Not only did the massacre trigger vocal support for the Palestinian cause, it led to to Jewish artists, particularly if they have expressed pro-Israel views, being ostracised and cancelled. The art world should be seen as a safe space (to coin contemporary terminology) for Jewish artists. But the opposite seems to be the case.

What is going on? Why — if you express support for Israel — are you seen as fundamentally tainted?

This is an incredibly fraught discussion and in this, our first episode on the topic, we begin an examination of the problem. The participants in the discussion — Rosie Kay, Manick, Govinda, Maya Amrami and Jonathan Baz — each bring something different to the discussion.

Rosie Kay is a British choreographer. She co-founded Freedom in the Arts with Denise Fahmy after experiencing cancellation, and discovering just how prevalent the practice is in the arts. Their stories were told in one of our first podcasts, last year. She is also co-founder of Artists Against Antisemitism UK which was set up after Hamas’s brutal attack to highlight the problem and provide support for Jewish artists. starts off with a brief overview of the research she has done.

Manick Govinda is an independent writer, commentator, mentor, arts adviser and curator; and, like Rosie, a co-founder of Artists Against Antisemitism UK. He is a longtime warrior for freedom of expression.

Maya Amrami is a multidisciplinary artist and a doctoral student at University of the Arts London’s Creative Computing Institute. Her art exposes, examines and challenges the hatred targeted at her as a Jewish Israeli artist when she expressed her horror at the Nova massacre and her support for Israel.

Manick is curated a recent exhibition, Witness, which took place at JW3, the Jewish Centre in North Finchley, London, as part of a conference organised by the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. Maya Amrami exhibit her work at along with two other Jewish artists, Mina Kupfermann and Benzi Brofman.

Previously Manick chaired and Maya took part in an event at Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, Poland which addressed antisemitism since October 7 2023.

And finally: Jonathan Baz is an accountant and a self-made and prolific theatre critic with his own website.

As a Jew, he has found himself increasingly aware of antisemitism in the theatre over the past few years and he questions the obsession with Jewish stereotypes in plays like The Lehmann Trilogy.

He recently reviewed the exhibition, Witness, that Maya and Manick were involved in.

Thank you to Marc Proviser for allowing us to feature his work ‘Lamentations - The Present’. You can see and find out more about Marc’s work at his website.

We are planning more episodes on antisemitism in the arts, so please bear with us and keep listening …

Note: We are keen to talk to artists who believe they have been subject to censorship and cancellation because they have expressed their opinions about Israel or other controversies.