Mina Kupfermann

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Mina Kupfermann (b. 1967, London) is a British-Israeli artist whose work explores memory, identity and the lived experience of antisemitism. Her father, the artist Jacques Kupfermann (1926–1987), was a Holocaust refugee; she grew up with the smell of turpentine and the sound of his palette knife filtering through the wall between his studio and her bedroom, alongside long periods of silence while he painted.

In 2016, while drawing elephants, Kupfermann became aware of a resonance between her interest in elephant conservation and her feelings about Jewish identity and survival. This marked the beginning of a body of work examining contemporary antisemitism and the ideological frameworks surrounding it.

Although not previously politically active, she later became involved with Labour Against Antisemitism in response to anti-Jewish hostility within the Labour Party. Her large-scale work Witness (2019) emerged from research and personal experience during this period, including the phenomenon of gaslighting experienced by those speaking publicly about antisemitism.

Following the events of October 7th, 2023, Kupfermann began contacting families of victims of the Nova festival massacre at Re’im to ask whether they would consent to their loved ones being depicted in paintings. Nova (2024) was created in collaboration with eight families who came forward and was followed by further works developed through ongoing dialogue with those affected.

The networks of scholars, activists and creatives engaged in confronting anti-Jewish hatred continue to inform Kupfermann’s thinking and practice.

A photograph of her father remains in her studio; their close bond informing an ongoing internal conversation that continues to shape her work and life.
Mina Kupfermann with Witness, JW3 London, 2025.
Photo: Karen Glaser.

Selected exhibitions and awards
2nd prize, Emma Lazarus Award, Combat Antisemitism Movement, 2019

WITNESS, JW3, London (2025), curated with Manick Govinda. Commissioned by the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism

DreamSpace, Kent House, London (2025), curated by Orit Schreiber


Contact

 makupfermann@gmail.com