Artworks have been withdrawn from the Barbican in London to protest the arts center’s decision to cancel a lecture titled “The Shoah after Gaza” by Indian writer Pankaj Mishra. Deeming the move as an act of censorship, collectors Lorenzo Legarda Leviste and Fahad Mayet requested the removal of two quilts by Gee’s Bend artist Loretta Pettway that they had lent to the institution for the exhibition “Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art,” which opened on February 13.
Following the announcement of the lecture’s cancellation on February 6, Leviste and Mayet contacted the curators of “Unravel” to seek an explanation for the decision. After removing the quilts, they have since made their full email correspondence with the institution public.
Last month, the Barbican withdrew from an agreement to host the lecture with the London Review of Books (LRB) after learning the title of the talk and realizing it would address Israel’s ongoing conflict in Gaza, as reported by the Guardian.
In a statement released on February 14, the Barbican claimed that the LRB had prematurely advertised the center as the venue for the lecture series before an official agreement had been reached. The Barbican stated that this prevented them from giving the topic the “dedicated and thoughtful care” they believed it required. However, the LRB disputed this account, asserting that the event was canceled “late.”
“We reject the Barbican cloaking its suppression of speech with the language of ‘care’,” the lenders declared in response to the center’s public statement. “The vague nature of this language allows for arbitrary shutdowns of any artwork, performance, or public conversation at the Barbican due to its ‘sensitive’ subject matter, or simply because not enough ‘care’ can supposedly be provided.We refuse to accept this.”
The collectors emphasized that their choice to withdraw the quilts from “Unravel” was aligned “with the spirit of the artists featured in the exhibition, many of whom created their works in response to repressive regimes and systems of power.”
A sign beside the vacant platform where Pettway’s two quilts were previously showcased features a brief explanation from the Barbican curators of “Unravel” regarding their absence. “We respect the lenders’ decision,” they stated.
Pettway did not respond to a request for comment regarding the removal of her artwork. In their online statement, Leviste and Mayet also highlighted an incident from last year when radio host Elias Anastas was instructed to “avoid discussing free Palestine at length… to ensure the comfort of the audience further.” Additionally, his interviewer, Nihal El Aasar, was advised to “steer clear of contentious topics,” as reported by the Guardian. Notably, last November, the Barbican hosted the London Palestine Film Festival 2023.
