Two Jewish creators on how October 7th has changed their art

Today marks a year since Hamas killed more than a thousand Israelis and took 253 people hostage. In the aftermath, Israel's war in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians according to the Gaza Health Ministry. And in recent weeks we've seen the war expand into neighbouring Lebanon. It's fair to say that the date October 7th has been fixed in history, like 9/11.

As we reflect on that day of unimaginable suffering, host Elamin Abdelmahmoud speaks with two Jewish creators about how art can be of service in making sense of and giving shape to a very dark day. Writer Emily Tamkin and artist Dina Goldstein share how their lives have changed because of October 7th and its horrific aftermath. 

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: Dina, I want to talk about the way that this past year has shaped your identity, your identity as an artist.

Dina: Well, just like Eitan from the documentary [We Will Dance Again] said, he's not the same person since October 7th and he's trying to figure out who he is. I think a lot of Jewish artists feel that because we've always felt like this will not happen again, or our logo has been "Never Again" since the Holocaust, and this generational trauma has set in now, again, for the Jewish community and for Jewish artists.

Elamin: Dina, you've said you've never thought of yourself as specifically someone who makes "Jewish art." But ever since October 7th, you've become a Jewish artist — not only a Jewish artist, but an Israeli-Canadian artist specifically. That facet of your identity has become kind of foregrounded. What has that experience been like for you?

Dina: My name, Dina Goldstein, it's very Jewish. But I've always seen myself as an Israeli-Canadian artist, and with a strong Canadian identity. But since then, I've seen things that really shouldn't happen within my art community, which is people, galleries, institutions panicking, removing work, canceling certain artists, canceling talks. 

I myself was supposed to be in a show titled "Toys," with my work In The Dollhouse that I created in 2012. I look into the unhappy home of Barbie and Ken. And I was removed from this exhibition because of the events in Gaza. I was offered an exhibition after the war is over as compensation, which I denied.

Elamin: Emily, I want to get into this a little bit, this idea that Dina talks about here that up until a year ago she hadn't considered herself a Jewish artist, but rather a Jewish person who makes art. And then October 7th, there's no other way to be but a Jewish artist. How do you encounter that in your own life? What are you noticing more broadly right now?

Emily: I would say the change that October 7th brought in my work was more that the questions that I had been grappling with and some of the themes that I had seen, you know, if they were in the background, they're now at the foreground.

My book is about what it means to be Jewish. What is the right Jewish political stance to take? If you're an American Jew, what should your relationship to Israel be? And so on. The volume has been turned up on all of it, right? That's a difference that I see.

Elamin: I'm interested in this idea of the volume being turned up, because I'm sure that you're not the only person who's noticing that. What have you noticed more broadly for Jewish creators after October 7th in the way that they talk about their art being received? 

Emily: First of all, I think that we're in a time where Jewish identity is supercharged, right? Like, it means so much to you, and it's taken in so many different ways by various audiences. The other part of this is that across the political spectrum, you've had Jews disinvited from events. So we heard Dina's experience just there. Obviously there's been other Jews who, for their support of Israel, have been told, "No, sorry, you're not welcome." On the other hand, you have had the Jewish author Nathan Thrall, who wrote a book on the West Bank, who after October 7th his talks were canceled because it wasn't the right time. You had Jewish Currents, this leftist magazine, had to move their event from Brooklyn College to elsewhere in New York City. And of course, we know that it's not only Jews speaking on Israel or on Palestine who have had their events canceled. 

So I think what is interesting and saddening and frustrating in this moment is that first of all the wound, it hurts so much when someone presses on it. Whatever your Jewish identity is, it's probably very strongly felt right now. It's in a political environment where discussions around identity are supercharged, and then it's in a cultural environment that I worry is becoming very fragmented. And I guess one thing that I worry about is that if conversations can't be had in the cultural realm, where are we going to have them? Right?

Elamin: You mean if artists can't have those conversations?

Emily: Yeah, exactly. Like, that's such a function of art. So that's one thing that I've been thinking about over the past year.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Jess Low and Stuart Berman.