The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA) recently changed its display by briefly removing and then reinstating a portrait of Palestinian-American scholar and activist Edward Said. The artwork was re-installed shortly after a fundraising gala, Hyperallergic has confirmed. This move has sparked concerns that the museum may be suppressing references to Palestinian history and culture amidst ongoing conflicts in Gaza.
The artwork in question, Charles Gaines’s “Faces 1: Identity Politics, #10, Edward Said” (2018), is part of Gaines’s larger exhibition titled Charles Gaines: 1992–2023 at the ICA. This particular piece is one of 12 portraits in the series, rendered on gridded clear acrylic panels using Gaines’s unique numerical method. The series aims to trace the evolution of revolutionary thought, featuring figures such as Aristotle, bell hooks, Maria W. Stewart, Karl Marx, and Molefi Kete Asante, alongside Said.
The exact timeline of the removal and reinstallment of the artwork remains unclear, as the ICA has not issued any public statements addressing the matter. Hyperallergic has informed that they have tried to contact the institution but despite repeated inquiries via email and phone calls, they could not get any answer. However, a museum visitor, who requested anonymity, confirmed that they did not see Gaines’s portrait of Said at the ICA during their visit to the exhibition on February 16. Additionally, according to a report by the Miami New Times, the artwork was also not on display during a visit in December 2023.
Hyperallergic reported that, a photograph taken on March 6 shows a small area of peeling paint on the wall where a label appears to have been affixed and then removed — potentially for an artwork installed in place of Gaines’s during the event. The label for another work in the series, depicting bell hooks, remained in place. News of the work’s removal was first shared online in the form of an anonymous tip posted on social media by the advocacy group Art Against Displacement (AAD). The author of the text suggests that the portrait was taken down “solely based on [Said’s] Palestinian identity.”
