Joseph Otmar Hefter was an artist, military person, and thinker, who in 1938 in New York wrote the pamphlet “Room for the Jew!” The pamphlet contains a detailed plan for resolving the Jewish question, described as a “New Judea” (nai juda). Hefter describes the new state’s laws, flag, and language, makes practical suggestion for its location, writes its hymn, designs pamphlets and posters for it, and establishes a pioneering force for establishing it. During the critical period of 1938–44 he promoted the suggestion, which was not very successful and eventually erased from the pages of history. For the first time in decades, the exhibition presents a selection of the graphic and photographic works he developed around his proposed movement. Hefter suggests an early point of contact between art and image-making on the one hand and political activism on the other. In this sense he makes up an absent primordial father of a wide range of contemporary artists dealing with political questions in general and with the possibility of art participating in politics.
The CDA's archives are operating with the support of the Ostrovsky Family Fund and Artis
