While CIMAM, the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art, condemns the silencing of pro-Palestine voices, ICOM is still silent.
On, Jan 24, CIMAM released a press release on its website saying that; The Museum Watch committee is following with concern the dreadful situation in Gaza and its repercussions in the worlds of art and culture—more specifically, its consequences for artists and curators who express their support for the Palestinian people.
CIMAM press release continued as; ‘since Israel’s war on the Palestinian inhabitants of Gaza in response to the horrific 7 October attack by Hamas and the taking of Israeli hostages, we are witnessing unprecedented international censorship of artists and curators who have expressed their political views and support for the Palestinian people, particularly in Canada, Germany, and the United States, to name but a few countries.’
During times of conflict, museums have emerged as sanctuaries for cultural artifacts, safeguarding treasures from the ravages of war. The ongoing global conflicts have prompted institutions to reassess security measures and implement advanced technologies to protect priceless artifacts from theft and destruction. Museums in conflict zones have had to make tough decisions, such as evacuating artifacts to safer locations or adopting creative camouflage methods to shield their collections.
However, according to CIMAM the silencing of Pro-Palestine voices list is long and the situation is serious. ‘Given CIMAM and Museum Watch’s dedication to museums of modern and contemporary art, we will focus on public cases that have taken place in museums—while not forgetting the large number of similar cases in art biennales, universities, music, film and literature festivals, art galleries and even auction houses—which have put pressure on artists and curators, threatening to sanction or actively sanctioning them for their support of the Palestinian people or simply their demand for a ceasefire. This situation contributes to an already polarized world, leaving no doubt that we are all implicated,’ said the museum watchdog community.
Museum Folkwang in Essen
On November 13, 2023, Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany, canceled “Afrofuturism,” curated by Berlin-based curator Anaïs Duplan, as a part of the exhibition, “We is Future. Visions of New Communities,” which was due to open on November 24. The reason given was their pro-Palestine social media posts. The narrative is posted on the archive_of_silence Instagram account and it states, “Museum director Peter Gorschlüter informed Duplan of the cancellation via email, deeming Duplan’s posts ‘unacceptable’ for not acknowledging the Hamas attack on Israel and characterizing the Israeli military operation in Gaza as genocide. Gorschlüter further referenced a post shared by Duplan on November 10 that supported the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, citing the (disputed and legally not binding) BDS resolution of the German Bundestag from 2019.”
The Saarland Museum’s Modern Gallery in Saarbrücken
The Saarland Museum’s Modern Gallery in Saarbrücken, Germany cancelled an exhibition by Candice Breitz scheduled for 2024 because of the artist’s statements on the violence taking place in Gaza. In an email quoted in ARTnews, Breitz said she learned of the show’s cancellation from the media, specifically from the Saarbrücker Zeitung. “In most democratic cultures,” Breitz wrote, “those who are deemed guilty are given the chance to speak and defend themselves before they are condemned and de-platformed. But the climate in Germany at present is such, that many Germans feel absolutely justified in violently condemning Jewish positions that are not consistent with their own, in their zeal to confirm their own dedication to anti-antisemitic principles.”
Wexner Center for the Arts
Wexner Center for the Arts, affiliated with Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, has maintained Jumana Manna’s current exhibition, “Break, Take, Erase, Tally,” it postponed a panel discussion scheduled for November that was to feature her, stating in a post on the event page: “The Wexner Center for the Arts has cancelled the Director’s Dialogue on Art and Social Change. Due to current world events, we do not feel this is the right time to have conversations about a region at war. We will look for opportunities to reconvene the panel at a future date.”
Samia Halaby Exhibition
Samia Halaby’s first solo exhibition in the US, due to open in February at the Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University, Bloomington was canceled by the university via email due to “safety concerns”. A Palestinian-American abstract painter, Halaby is an Indiana University alumna and the first woman professor at Yale School of Art. More than 10,000 people signed a petition asking to reinstate her retrospective.
The press release of CIMAM draws attention to worldwide wave of cancellations and related concerns in the art world. CIMAM stated: ‘As artists and curators express their views on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, there are a few cases of museums and institutions that have defended free expression. One noteworthy case is the Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland which supported its newly appointed director, Mohamed Almusibli, who was facing a campaign against his selection led by a local paper that pointed out that Almusibli had recently signed two open letters in support of Palestine. A petition in support of the Kunsthalle and Almusibli’s appointment has been signed by 2500 members of the art community.’
What about ICOM?
On the other hand, another important museum watchdog community, ICOM, International Council of Museums, released a press release on Oct 25, 2023 saying that ‘The International Council of Museums (ICOM) expresses its deep concern about the current violence affecting Israeli and Palestinian civilians and deplores the significant humanitarian consequences that the conflict has had over the past weeks. ICOM extends its sincerest condolences to those who have lost family, friends, and community due to the violence.’
While ICOM has not raised its voice for the cancellations in the art world concerning Palestine, it stated ‘ICOM stands firm in its commitment to preserving cultural heritage and recalls the imperative of all parties to respect international law and conventions, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two protocols.’
There was no more statement about the censors and the war as the rlease continued as: ‘ICOM thus expects an immediate ceasefire in respect of international humanitarian law in order to prevent further loss of human life and safeguard cultural heritage – which is essential to our collective humanity – and reaffirms its commitment to the principles of peace, understanding, and unity through the preservation and protection of cultural heritage.’
