Weaving Communist Dreams: Jewish Textile Art between Socialist Realism and Neo-Avant-Garde

Although numerous scholars have analyzed Jewish identity in the visual arts, few have focused on Hungarian textile art. This article seeks to resolve lacunae surrounding expressions of Jewish identity by analyzing the tapestries of Hédi Tarján (1932–2008), a Hungarian-born Israeli female artist. The topic will be examined from diverse interdisciplinary points of view, including perspectives of art history, Jewish studies, and memory studies. The article concludes by arguing that Tarján used symbolic language and nostalgia as a defense mechanism against the communist regime’s cultural doctrine and memory politics in works created between 1950 and 1989.