August 7, 2024
Artists

Jewish artists protest Gaza genocide at San Francisco museum


According to organizers, some 200 people gathered outside San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) on June 6 to protest the genocide being carried out by the Israeli government and military in Gaza.

The protest was organized by California Jewish Artists for Palestine (CJAFP), along with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

The group of 10 self-described “anti-Zionist” artists—Micah Bazant, Jules Cowan, Rebekah Erev, Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt, Steph Kudisch, Kate Laster, Ava Sayaka Rosen, Sophia Sobko, Arielle Tonkin and Irina Zadov—initially submitted works, with pro-Palestinian messages, to the proposed California Jewish Open exhibition at the CJM.

Protest at the CJM June 6 (Nick DeRenzi – jvpbayarea and jewishvoicefor peace on Instagram)

The museum framed the exhibition, set to run until October 20, as an opportunity for “Jewish-identifying artists in California to submit artworks in response to a central question: How are artists looking to the many aspects of Jewish culture, identity, and community to foster, reimagine, hold, or discover connection?” The resulting exhibition, asserted the CJM, would bring “together the work of forty-seven artists reflecting on their connection to Judaism, the world, and their own history.”

Five of the 10 anti-Zionist artists’ works were accepted, but the museum refused to respond to the artists’ demands, including “transparency around funding and a commitment to BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions],” which led to the withdrawal from the show. A museum spokesperson acknowledged to the media that the Israeli consulate had provided funding in the past for exhibitions and talks.



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