From the Mail on Sunday, the Telegraph and X
A controversial art exhibition in Margate has sparked outrage after a Jewish visitor claimed she was ‘hounded out’ by an ‘aggressive’ artist amid accusations the display features antisemitic and Nazi imagery.
The exhibition, titled Drawings Against Genocide, has been reported to police following complaints that it depicts Jews using offensive stereotypes and inflammatory symbolism linked to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Some attendees were also reportedly wearing ‘globalise the intifada’ T-shirts, a slogan often interpreted as endorsing violence against Jews.
Writer Zoe Strimpel, (she writes for the Telegraph but was reported in the Mail first) who attended the exhibition, shared a detailed account of the confrontation on social media, describing a deeply distressing encounter. She wrote: ‘My cheeks are red. I am shaking. I popped into an exhibition that turned out to be the insane fever dream of an artist called Matthew Collins: ‘Drawings Against Genocide.’
Matthew Collings, 70, formerly one of the country’s leading art critics … said the art was “about raising consciousness about hell” and that “Israel is the pure encapsulation of it” through its actions in Gaza.
‘Zionism is this terror state’s ruling ideology.’ Shocked by the use of Nazi imagery – the room is full of the Star of David pasted around figures meant to be Israelis and the Jewish ‘lobby’ spewing blood, to say nothing of blonde yummy mummies wearing ‘globalise the intifada’ shirts, I spoke to the artist to share my reaction as a Jewish person.
‘He was instantly aggressive. As soon as I started to say I was shocked and threatened by what I was seeing because it was Nazi imagery, the artist started yelling at me that I didn’t mean anything I was saying.
‘Anytime I tried to speak (calmly) he said: ‘you don’t mean any of what you said, you’re just repeating ‘hasbarah talking points’ because ‘you’re defending a genocide’. On and on he yelled, in my face.
The crowd began booing and closing in around me, making to shoe me out. I said: ‘fine, get the Jew out’ and he yelled more across the room at me, ‘repeatedly jeering ‘call the police, go ahead, call the police’.
‘I said I would, and the community security trust, which features as a devil in his exhibition. This was met with even more jeering. ‘Yeah, call the CST’ was the last I heard before leaving.
‘Someone snapped pictures of me while I was being shouted at. Short video shows the artist. The longer video, of our final almost surreally disgusting exchange, didn’t record.’
Giving his own account, Mr Collings dismissed the incident as “Zionist nonsense”. He said in a Facebook post that a “well dressed middle class educated person” came to his show and “shouted at me that as a Jew she felt she was in an unsafe place and she was going to complain to the police”.
As information of the exhibition and Miss Strimple’s assessment spread representatives of Stop the Hate attended this afternoon.
Kent Police said it was making inquiries into the exhibition. Except they have already told one complainant that “this is legitimate “criticism of Israel”, based on their views as non-Jews and what the artist told them. They deny it is “insulting or abusive to Jewish people”. They say there is “no information to suggest hostility” towards Jews. But it features a Star of David (not a flag). It targets Jews both in the text and as individuals, with one even accused of eating babies alive…”
One of the drawings on display at the Joseph Wales Studios depicts two auctioneers at Sotheby’s – which is owned by Patrick Drahi, a French-Israeli businessman – eating babies, with blood dripping from their sharpened teeth.
Miss Strimple has also been told by the police that this is ‘legitimate criticism’ and that she is ‘obviously very passionate’.
Labour-led Thanet district council has been criticised for supporting the “openly anti-Semitic exhibition” after its tourism website, Visit Thanet, appeared to previously promote it, providing information on dates and venue on a since-deleted web page.
Rape denial
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “This extremist Labour council is supporting an openly anti-Semitic exhibition. These pictures are dripping with sickening anti-Semitic tropes, and all those involved in this should hang their heads in shame.”
Allegations that Jewish people secretly control mass media and governments are a common anti-Semitic trope. A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “These images are grotesque. This isn’t art but incitement, drawing on classic tropes.”
Addressing the apparent promotion by the council, the spokesman added: “It’s a disgrace that the local authority is promoting this exhibition of hate – it should apologise.”
The Jew hatred ‘art’ of the Nazi’s was vile, but at least their painters could paint; I don’t know if the lack of talent here makes the scrawlings better or worse. They are horrible. Here are some more, just to make Sunday evening miserable.
.
One Response
1) The “art” is roughly upper primary lower secondary standard. Hardly: Vicky, Low or Gilray.
2) There is nothing original in the ideas presented.
3) There is nothing ironic nor generally witty in this material.
4) There is no balance in that the Arabs in their conflict with Israel are hardly innocent and have missed the bus deliberately several times which shuld have been an excuse for irony.