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THE INVISIBLE JEW – CALL FOR ART

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THE INVISIBLE JEW

The Jewish Art Salon is accepting submissions for an exhibition to take place in New York City in the near future.

Co-sponsored by JOFA, the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, Art Kibbutz, and Hevria.

About the exhibition:

Lately, there have been several news items about the disadvantages of being a woman in Orthodox Judaism. In this branch of Judaism, particularly within Ultra-Orthodoxy, women are often told by the patriarchy how to dress, act, and be. Women are told that they are “separate but equal,” and are admonished for damaging the integrity of their community if they do not follow strict rules of modesty. This proposed art exhibition deals with the systematic bias that has created the invisible women of Orthodox Judaism.

Hevria, a creative Jewish blog, recently published an article titled “The Invisible Jew.” Written by Merri Ukraincik, the commentary details her despair at finding that her friend, honored by a gala along with her husband, was left off the invitation. Only her husband’s photograph was shown. As Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt writes for the Forward, “female presence seems to be disappearing from the Orthodox public space.” Orthodox Instagram personality Adina Miles tried to fight this epidemic with humor, publishing an advertisement with her face covered with an emoji. Published successfully, she faced major backlash from her community, receiving personal insults and threats against her children. Unfortunately, many ultra-Orthodox publications tend to systematically exclude not only Jewish women: Ultra-Orthodox newspaper Yated Ne’eman refused to publish a picture of Hillary Clinton when discussing her political campaign. They opted to replace her image with one of her husband.

This bias is tolerated and put up with by most women in their communities. “This is just the way it is,” is what is told to children. Not “let’s make a change,” not “let’s do better.” Only “what can you do?” and a shrug. This exhibition aims to raise awareness and question this issue through art. We hope that artists expressing their insight on this subject will create a powerful, persuasive show, and help bring female imagery to the front lines of Orthodox Judaism. Exhibited art works will primarily be by women (men whose work is in line with our mission statement will be encouraged to show their work) with a relationship to this matter, addressing what it feels like to be an “Invisible Jew”, and to question how we can do better for the next generation of Jewish women.

Venue: TBA

Exhibition dates: TBA

Eligibility: All mediums welcome.

The deadline for submissions is 4:00PM EST Thursday, November 22, 2017. Subject to change. 

Notification of acceptance: Late December, 2017.

Media/Genre, etc: Open to all traditional and non-traditional genre and media.

Curator: Goldie Gross is a Brooklyn-based artist and co-producer of the Jewish Art Salon’s upcoming exhibition “Jerusalem Between Heaven And Earth” at the Jerusalem Biennale 2017, curated by Ori Z. Soltes. For the Jewish Art Salon she is curating The Invisible Jew, and Natural Instincts. She also curated Sukkahwood at Inwood Park, NYC. She co-curated Art & Identity at Tzohar Seminary for Chassidus and the Arts.

Curatorial advisors: 

Yona Verwer, artist and founder / director of the Jewish Art Salon.

Faigie Roth, art historian.

Transportation: Artists are responsible for round trip transportation of their artwork. 

Application Guidelines:

Submission:

Submit your work here.

 

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