Exhibition in Margate exposes virulent antisemitism in the arts

In late March, the art critic and artist Matthew Collings created a stir with his exhibition of anti-semitic art in Margate. The exhibition was staged at a small local gallery, signposted as an antisemitic exhibition, and the opening was attended by a crowd of anti-Israel activists who expressed the desire to see Israel destroyed in statements such as ‘Globalise the Intifada’.

Zoe Strimpel first called out the exhibition and in this YouTube video she talks about what she saw and discusses, with GB News Free Speech Nation presenter Josh Howie, the implications of the exhibition.

We first heard of the exhibition from a friend of Arts First, Nico Macdonald, who lives in Margate and wrote about it on Facebook:

Those who would use images and words that create hostility towards our Jewish fellow citizens are getting bolder.

Over the last week, the Joseph Wales studios and gallery in Margate – our hometown – exhibited a show by artist, critic and broadcaster Matthew Collings entitled ‘Drawings Against Genocide’.

Whether one considers the work good or not, it features many images which were caricatures of Jews, and which exhibited long-standing and well-known antisemitic tropes, such as “the blood drinking Jew”, “the Jew delighting in murder”, the child-murder Blood Libel, “Jews as racists” and imagery equating Zionism with Nazism. And, of course, the unsubstantiated turning of accusation of genocide on the victims of a genocide – Jews – which is a ghastly libel.

Images in the exhibition also include “October 7th denial”, repeating false claims that there is no evidence of sexual violence committed by Hamas ‘fighters’ and others during the invasion of southern Israel.

While I find the content of the exhibition and Collings’ work to be objectionable and hateful, and to inversely echo the well-known antisemitic exhibition of Degenerate Art of the late 1930s, I don’t argue that the show should have been cancelled, let alone closed down.

But I do wonder how the artist, and the organisers and hosts of this exhibition think about their fellow citizens.

They appear not to have given a moment of thought to the effect of this exhibition and imagery on our Jewish friends and neighbours. It is fine to criticise or condemn the Israeli government for its actions, just as it is fine to criticise or condemn Hamas.

But the anti-Israel and anti-Zionist imagery and slogans in this exhibition were a ‘dog whistle’ for racist antisemitism. Were such an exhibition to feature imagery of Palestinians or other Arabs, or of Muslims, it would rightly be called out by organisations such as Stand Up to Racism, and by politicians and other civic leaders. But Jews don’t seem to count in the hierarchy of discrimination and prejudice.

Considerable ire from Jews and their non-Jewish supporters has greeted the exhibition but the art world has remained silent.

Collings may see himself up as a kind of ‘enfant terrible’ of the art world but if the art world had any integrity, he would find himself no longer a ‘darling’ but an outcast. In febrile times, when someone can get cancelled for rejecting the idea that a man who calls himself a woman should be taken seriously, the art world has remained curiously, and shockingly, silent on Collings’ antisemitic transgressions. To be clear, we don’t think he should be cancelled but we would like to see high profile members of the art world (whatever they think about Israel) condemn the blatant antisemitic hatred expressed by Collings.

We can only hope that many in the art world remain silent because they are embarrassed by Collings and/or think he is off the wall, not because they happen to, in the dark recesses of their hearts, agree with his degenerate beliefs. The Art Newspaper, for example, the main daily journal of the art world, has chosen not to mention it. There is a complete dearth of commentary from high profile artists and arts institutions on the internet. The Guardian, apparently the favoured newspaper of artists, also seems to be determinedly looking the other way. It’s possible that many in the art world accept Collings’ claim that he is an anti-Zionist not an anti-Semite, but it’s hard to miss the antisemitic tropes that scream aggressively from his drawings. As James Heartfield in Spiked points out, reviewing the exhibition and Matthew Collings’ background as an artist and art critic, his fanatical hostility towards Israel seems unhinged.

Thanet Council initially promoted the exhibition but has now deleted the relevant page from their website following complaints. And Joseph Wales Gallery which hosted the exhibition has also deleted its webpage announcing it. In both instances, the organisations may have been surprised at the outrage, but it shows how hostility to Jews has become institutionally normalised in Britain, not least (sadly) in the arts.

There seems to be institutional double standards operating in condemning the expression of such hatred. As Nico rightly points out, in relation to Arabs, Muslims, and indeed any other minority group in this country, the vitriol expressed in this exhibition would have been condemned as a hate crime, and the perpetrators arrested. But police have refused to take action. As free speech advocates, we wouldn’t support an arrest but as the police’s default tendency these days is to treat offensive language and imagery as criminal, it seems to be a reflection that hatred of Jews is just not taken seriously.

We are sure that there are many artists out there who are as repelled by antisemitism as we are. But silent disapproval is not enough: we need to publicly disavow the kind of work produced by Collings, even if we suspect it may be the product of an unhinged mind.