Galut Collective is a Berlin and Tel Aviv-based platform for Jewish artists, writers, and thinkers exploring contemporary forms of diasporic identity through art, theory, and political imagination. Founded and run by author and journalist Mirna Funk, the collective brings together voices from across borders to engage with the fractures, possibilities, and provocations of Jewishness in the 21st century. Through exhibitions, performances, talks, and curated events, Galut Collective creates spaces where artistic practice meets intellectual discourse and political debate.

WHAT WE DO

In a time of increasing polarization and cultural flattening, Galut’s mission is to foster critical thinking, aesthetic resistance, and bold collaboration. Through curated programs and cross-disciplinary formats, the collective offers a space where contradictions are welcomed, complexity is preserved, and Jewish identity is reclaimed not as inheritance, but as choice – active, loud, and unafraid. Galut builds a stage for those who speak from the margins, who defy binaries, and who use artistic and intellectual tools to resist simplification in all its forms.

The collective is both a home and a hinge: a home for those who see exile as a source of perspective, and a hinge that connects thought and action, diaspora and homeland, individual voice and collective memory. Galut is not a shelter—it is a stance.

MIRNA FUNK

Mirna Funk is one of the most prominent Jewish voices in the German-speaking world. As a novelist, essayist, and cultural critic, her work moves between Berlin and Tel Aviv, between personal narrative and political analysis, between historical awareness and present urgency. Her writing has been widely published and translated, and her public voice continues to shape debates on Jewish life, antisemitism, Zionism, and liberal values in contemporary Europe.

With Galut Collective, Funk creates a space for creative dissent, for Jewish thought beyond nostalgia, victimhood, or ideological dogma. The collective serves as a living, breathing forum—curating events, panel discussions, exhibitions, performances, and public interventions that challenge dominant narratives and provoke dialogue across communities and generations.In a time of increasing polarization and cultural flattening, Galut’s mission is to foster critical thinking, aesthetic resistance, and bold collaboration. Through curated programs and cross-disciplinary formats, the collective offers a space where contradictions are welcomed, complexity is preserved, and Jewish identity is reclaimed not as inheritance, but as choice – active, loud, and unafraid. Galut builds a stage for those who speak from the margins, who defy binaries, and who use artistic and intellectual tools to resist simplification in all its forms.

CHANGES & CHALLENGES

After October 7, 2023, the world changed in profound and disturbing ways. For Israeli and Jewish artists and academics living in the diaspora, the months that followed were marked by exclusion, silencing, and a growing cultural hostility. What was once described as a “silent boycott” quickly evolved into explicit rejection. In many progressive art spaces—traditionally considered the home of avant-garde thought—being Israeli meant facing the threat of total disqualification. Art was no longer judged by its content or form, but by the political positioning of its creator. Ideology displaced imagination.

The panel “Changes and Challenges for Israeli Artists Worldwide since Oct 7” brought together a group of internationally active artists from different disciplines to reflect on this new reality. They shared their experiences, contradictions, moments of solidarity—and the strategies they have developed to navigate, challenge, and resist the shifting boundaries of cultural acceptance.

Held in Tel Aviv in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Israel and the Jerusalem Writers Festival (Mishkenot Sha’ananim), and hosted at HaMeretz2 before an invited audience, the event sought to name the phenomenon, make it visible, and open a broader public conversation. It asked urgent questions: What space remains for complexity? Who decides which voices are heard—and which are not? And how can artists continue to speak freely when freedom itself is being redefined?

ARTISTS

Ala Dakka has been a working actor for the past decade. His most notable works include Fauda Season 3, Monkey House (by Avi Nesher), Portrait Of Victory and many more. Recently, he’s started working as a creator and a writer as well, with his play “Manegalian Passport” winning three awards at the last Akko Festival and running on stage for over a year at the Jaffa Theatre.
Joshua Simon is an author and curator. Former director and chief curator of MoBY-Museums of Bat Yam. His latest exhibition, “Slime”, opened in February 2024 at Secession in Vienna, where he has been a visiting professor at the Academy of Fine Arts. Currently, Simon is developing the Institute for the Study of Fascism.
Sarah Benjamin is a self-taught artist living between Jerusalem and New York. She is the founder of the international agency Memoria Di, specializing in casting non-actors. Her debut film as a director, “Arava”, premiered at the Palm Springs Film Festival to widespread acclaim. In 2024, Benjamin directed two short films, which she is currently finalizing, while also continuing work on her debut feature film, “Lion’s Milk”.
I.S. Kalter lives and works in Tel Aviv–Yafo. The artist’s works have been recently exhibited at Fondation d'Enterprise Pernod-Ricard, Paris; University of Cologne; Dortmunder Kunstverein; Nürnberg Kunstverein; Documenta Fifteen, Kassel; Art Düsseldorf; Zona Mista, London; Gold+Beton, Cologne; Mountains, Berlin; Tel Aviv Museum of Art, CCA: Tel Aviv–Yafo and many more. I.S. Kalter is represented by Galerie Mountains, Berlin.

JOIN US

If you are an artist seeking to be part of an international community that values courage over conformity - reach out. If you are a cultural institution ready to host events that challenge the status quo -contact us. If you curate spaces, festivals, venues or residencies and are open to programming that moves beyond clichés and opens new frontiers — we want to collaborate.
contact