Featuring artwork by:
Robin Atlas · Shoshannah Brombacher · Nancy Current · Marita Dingus · Beth Haber · Maxine Hess · Nazanin Hedayat Munroe · Tamar Hirschl · Aaron Koster · Pearl L. Kruss · Noa Liran · Leah Raab · Flora Rosefsky · Phillip Schwartz · Joel Silverstein · Vitaly Umansky · Yona Verwer + Katarzyna Kozera · Ruth Waters

Introductory and Curatorial Statement by Robin Atlas and Nancy Current

Words have always been a catalyst for civil discord and today hate speech is increasingly prevalent, tearing apart the fabric of our communities in ever more violent and destructive ways. Examples of hate speech are everywhere, in our personal and work lives and in the public sphere, passing from generation to generation by written and spoken word, inculcating attitudes of intolerance, anti-Semitism, racism, and discrimination in both children and adults.

Our exhibit illuminates hate speech, its historically destructive manifestations, and its consequences for humanity. The exhibit also advocates the antidote: educating our children and making it our responsibility to condemn hate speech in all its insidious manifestations.

The artwork for this exhibition was chosen to fulfill two main requirements: to be both visually arresting and conceptually compelling while relating to the subject of hate speech. It is our pleasure to present work which meets those goals while also ranging over a wide range of opinion and expression.

Whether represented by a single work or by multiple works, the viewer will be drawn in to each artist’s visual statement about an aspect of hate speech: its definition and consequences, its victims and perpetrators, its history and ubiquity, and the responses of loving-kindness, education and seeking a spiritual power to cope.

Every artist created her/his work out of a personal connection to hate speech and has sent accompanying text to explain their approach. Their passion is evident in the art, and we know viewers will respond with their own feelings and stories which will stimulate their thinking about how to take action in a world presently awash in hate speech.

Made possible by the Koret–Taube Initiative on Jewish Peoplehood in association with Jewish Art Salon