Samia Halaby, a Palestinian artist who has lived in the U.S. since the 50’s and earned a master’s degree at Indiana University and later taught there, was about to be honored with a retrospective show at the University. Her work hangs in the permanent collection at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
The show has taken more than three years to organize. Ms. Halaby was informed of the cancellation in a two sentence note.
In November Rep. Jim Banks (Republican) of Indiana sent a letter to the university saying it could lose federal funding if administrators condoned antisemitism on campus. In December the university suspended a tenured political science professor after the student Palestine Solidarity Committee hosted an unauthorized event. The professor was the faculty advisor for the group. [Ever notice how often poli. sci. profs get into trouble?]
Incidentally, the Museum at Michigan State still plans to host Ms. Halaby’s show later this year. Let’s hope they are not as chicken-shit as Indiana.
See Zachary Small, “Museum Cancels Big Exhibition,” New York Times, (Jan. 13, 2024), p C-2.
The hate in this world is appalling. “If you don’t look, think, speak like me, you’re dirt”.
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