A lifeline for Jewish artists fighting discrimination

Theatre-maker Dominic Weintraub has one word to describe the experience of Jewish artists belonging to Australia's creative community right now: “dire”.

Since October 7, the General Manager of advocacy body Centre of Jewish Artists (COJA) has received countless reports of Jewish artists losing opportunities to showcase their work, negotiating hostile professional environments, and confronting anti-Jewish ideas on a day-to-day basis.

“We have seen public shaming of Jewish artists,” Weintraub told The Jewish Independent.

“We’ve seen people lose jobs. We’ve seen Jewish artists’ names, photos, workplaces, and in some cases, phone numbers published online. We’ve seen artists lose decades worth of career building and progression, and we’ve seen the decimating impact all of this has had on artists’ mental health.”

In response to COJA’s cultural safety survey – undertaken by a large and diverse cohort of Jewish artists with varying political, religious and cultural perspectives – 90% reported feeling unsupported by their workplaces; over 80% had left or were considering leaving creative projects because of the behaviours of their peers; and over 50% had been the direct recipient of antisemitic comments or behaviours by a colleague.

“In times of conflict, artistic expression becomes even more critical as a means of processing, healing, and making sense of the world,” Weintraub explained.

“Fostering this cultural safety is important not only for supporting individual artists but also for reinforcing collective resilience. It creates platforms for Jewish stories, voices, and perspectives that may otherwise be marginalised or misunderstood.”

Over the past year, COJA has expanded its offering to address these experiences, spending more time meeting and consulting with artists, facilitating workshops about cultural safety and building connections within the wider artistic community. This is in addition to its pre-existing services, which include monthly networking gatherings; a co-working space; and youth collective.

"Disproportionately impacted"

COJA has also partnered with Jewish Care Victoria to offer free mental health support to the creative community. Jewish artists can access clinical psychology directly through a self-referral to the non-profit, with a similar pathway soon to be implemented for financial counselling.

Community Education and Partnerships Manager Cassandra Barrett says the offering – which has received federal funding through the South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network – responds to the unique needs of artists who are experiencing doxing, isolation, and a loss of security and safety.

“The creative community has been disproportionately impacted by the psychological harms arising from doxing, antisemitism and social isolation, as well as managing the grief and trauma that has been experienced more generally across the community,” Barrett told The Jewish Independent.

“Alongside this distress, creatives have been forced to grapple with the practical impacts of lost income in a challenging industry, amongst an already significant cost-of-living crisis. We know this need is likely to be a sustained one, as loss of income and opportunities sadly impact not only the immediate ability to make ends meet, but future livelihood and industry prospects as well.

“As a cohort who otherwise may not have known of, or seen themselves as recipients of Jewish Care services, we wanted to make it clear that we really welcome their engagement and want to support that as much as possible.”

"Creating connection within community"

The Jewish Museum of Australia (JMA) launched its Creative Arts Opportunities Register in response to the impacts of October 7, with the aim to create a database of Jewish artists and provide them with opportunities through the Melbourne-based museum.

Creatives of all backgrounds can elect their interest in participating in programs including Writer in Residency, which offers a writing space, publication opportunities and access to the museum’s extensive collection; Arts and Culture, which invites artists to collaborate on the museum’s annual exhibitions and activities; and the JMA Shop, which allows creatives to sell their products in the museum’s store.

The museum plans to review the register and contact creatives directly to collaborate on tailored opportunities that match their needs.

Director and CEO Noè Harsel says the register “meaningfully” addresses the “upsetting and distressing” decrease in opportunities being offered to Jewish creatives post October 7, and has already been met with strong demand from the community.

“We’ve been really blessed with how much interest there has been to participate in the register,” Harsel told The Jewish Independent.

“We’re seeing a lot of fracturing post October 7 and what we’re trying to do is create connection within community and between communities. It feels so personal to me as well because I am a writer, and I’m very passionately involved in Melbourne’s literature scene and in the arts. To see something target all of my communities, it feels so real.

“We just want to create as many opportunities as humanely possible through the museum.”

"A dilemma of opportunity"

In Sydney, community organisation Shalom has recently appointed Gregory Uzelac as its new Creative Curator, a position designed specifically to curate visual and performing art for the Jewish community in NSW as well as to provide support to Jewish artists.

In the five months since his appointment, Uzelac – who is also a researcher and lecturer at Sydney University – has met with countless Jewish artists to capture their experiences, which include feeling alienated, being unable to attract non-Jewish audiences, and losing work due to their background or ties to Israel.

Uzelac believes the onus is on Jewish organisations and philanthropy to support Jewish artists, particularly those who are being forced to publicly take a stance on the Israel conflict in order to secure work opportunities.

“For Jewish creatives who are focused on working within the Jewish community exclusively, there is a dilemma of opportunity. The community is smaller, and therefore the opportunities are less frequent, which begs a question of sustainability – but this has a clear solution in creating more opportunities through events, philanthropy and so on.

“The bigger dilemma, which is harder to solve, is Jewish artists who are not making anything specifically Jewish or who are actively not entering into the Jewish space. For them, there’s been a real fissure of needing to make a public statement post October 7 in order to get an opportunity.

“What is most upsetting about that is it distracts from artists making their work and doing what they’re passionate about. I think the solution there, once again, is for Jewish organisations to provide support.”

In addition to Shalom’s larger events, including co-producing Sydney’s run of the acclaimed Yentl, staging the SHIR Songs of Hope concert and launching the Shalom Australian Jewish Book Awards, Uzelac is pioneering grassroots programs, such as micro-grants and networking opportunities for artists, with more to come.

“We're trying to create a deeper appreciation of what art can do in a Jewish capacity. That opens the door to deep learning about Jewish values and to cross-cultural dialogue,” Uzelac concluded.

“While it may take some time to get to that point, because the wounds are still so fresh even a year after October 7, that’s something we can all benefit from. That’s a really worthy cause.”