Jewish Australian artist says anti-Semitism drove her from Australia to Israel

Adina Kraus, a Jewish Australian artist from Melbourne, says the post-October 7 atmosphere in Australia made it impossible for her to keep working there. In an interview with ynet, she said the Hamas attack on Israel unleashed an anti-Israel and antisemitic wave unlike anything Australia had seen, leading to cancellations of exhibitions and performances and leaving her feeling blocked creatively. She said, “Suddenly, nobody wanted me in their studio or galleries,” adding that two exhibitions she had planned for 2024 were both canceled.

Kraus said many organizers did not reply to her at all, while others made “vicious” comments. She described the arts environment as no longer culturally safe for creating as a Jew, and said Jewish people also stepped down from influential university board roles while some galleries stopped taking donations from Jewish benefactors and then closed. She added that antisemitism had existed under the surface even before October 7, but deteriorated afterward. She hopes a royal commission into antisemitism will help improve the situation, but says she now sees herself as no longer an Australian artist.

Born to an Israeli mother and grandparents who survived the Holocaust, Kraus said she grew up in Melbourne but never felt fully attached to Australia. She said Hebrew was the first language spoken at home and the family visited Israel often. After feeling shut out in Australia, she decided to move to Israel and was accepted to a master’s program at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, which she calls a second chance and a place where she can work freely.

Kraus is now preparing her graduate exhibition, which opens to the public on June 25 at Herzl 119 in Tel Aviv and runs until July 4. Her work draws on the biblical story of the bronze serpent, along with the Zohar and Sefer Yetzirah, and also on ancient materials and landscapes. She previously created a site-specific piece in Timna, using earth, stones, clay and natural materials, and will now show the remains, maps, bronze and copper castings, Dead Sea mud and carved stones left from that project. She lives in Jaffa and says she prefers living in Israel, despite war, to facing antisemitism abroad.