Published: 1 December 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
A new community art project designed to encourage open conversations about Judaism has already been met with vandalism.
A public art project has painted the streets of Melbourne and Sydney blue and white, with the aim of humanising the Jewish community amid rising tensions and acts of antisemitism following the October 7 attacks.
Several ‘I am a Jew’ posters have been plastered across main streets and in busy pedestrian zones over the past week, helping to depict the multiculturalism of Judaism. The initiative is the brainchild of a Melbourne-based artist and activist who wants the Australian Jewish community to “take control of the narrative”.
Each of the individuals featured in the posters are from Israel – made possible through a collaboration with the artist’s photographer brother – and have a diverse background. Among those spotlighted so far include a Turkish/Libyan Jew, Tunisian/Deutsch Jew and a Syrian/Lithuanian Jew.
This decision to depict Israeli Jews was influenced by a desire to safeguard the local Australian Jewish community from harm.
“We had a very tangible, practical reason to use Israelis as the subjects for the images. There is a level of protection, ironically, within the community in Israel that we don't have in the diaspora. I didn't like the idea of the faces of this campaign being in danger.”
The artist behind the project has remains anonymous – a choice that is leading some to question the integrity of a project which focuses on being proud and vocal about one’s ties to Judaism. But the artist argues the initiative should not belong to just one person.
