The Palestinian Solidarity Committee, community members, IU employees and students gather in the Eskenazi Museum of Art in support of reinstating Palestinian artist Samia Halaby's exhibit on January 26, 2024. "Samia Halaby: Centers of Energy” was supposed to open at the Eskenazi Museum of Art Feb. 10.
(Devan Ridgway, WTIU News)
More than two-dozen Indiana University masters students at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design are campaigning for the reinstatement of Palestinian artist Samia Halaby’s exhibition.
The “Samia Halaby: Centers of Energy” exhibition was canceled Dec. 20 after three years of preparation due to security concerns. The exhibition was set to open in February at the Eskenazi Museum of Art as the first American retrospective of Halaby’s work.
The students said IU undermined its core principle of shaping a culture of respect and integrity in the IU 2030 mission. In a letter to President Pamela Whitten, they demanded IU reinstate the exhibition and issue a public apology to Halaby, an alum and former faculty member.
“By doing this, we can reaffirm that IU is, and will be, a welcoming environment of mutual respect where students, faculty, staff, and alumni from every corner of the world are embraced as Hoosiers,” the letter said.
MFA candidates Bridget O’Brien and Francisco Ormaza said the letter was a collaborative effort. They said that as artists and instructors, they wanted to see and share the work of a celebrated alum like Halaby.
“We want Samia to know that she has a home with us here, and that we will welcome her,” Ormaza said.
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The letter lists accomplishments on the Bloomington campus, including the Eskenazi school’s “AI in the Studio” project, which addresses ethical issues and the creative potential of artificial intelligence. O’Brien said the letter writers wanted to show IU has elevated artists in contentious political climates in the past, and Halaby’s exhibition could have been an equal point of pride.
O’Brien and Ormaza said they couldn’t always speak on behalf of the entire group of co-signers, but could share their personal opinions.
By canceling Halaby’s exhibition, O’Brien said Whitten was setting a delicate precedent — silencing the voices of artists.
“There will always be political turmoil,” O’Brien said. “But what is beautiful about democracy, and what is beautiful about this university, is that we do not silence those artists who are speaking out against injustice.”
An IU spokesperson said in an email that academic leaders and campus officials canceled the exhibit due to concerns about guaranteeing the “security” of the exhibit for its duration. IU’s original statement said the leaders had concerns about the “integrity” of the exhibit.
Ormaza questioned the security concerns. He said while Halaby is a Palestinian activist, her abstract work isn’t inherently political. Halaby has said her work shows a “universe of pictures” — lines, shapes and other formal elements.
As for Halaby’s activism, O’Brien said she personally believes Halaby’s advocacy for the lives of Palestinians isn’t political, or even radical.
“She's a pioneer of contemporary abstraction,” O’Brien said. “Her work is beautiful and aesthetically just incredibly profound. But to be able to derive any kind of political ideology from it, is pretty shocking.”
Free speech organizations, including the National Coalition Against Censorship, the ACLU and PEN America have joined local efforts to reinstate Halaby’s exhibition and condemn IU.
Elizabeth Larison, director of arts and culture advocacy for the NCAC, said the group was worried that Halaby’s politics and advocacy for Palestinian people provoked security concerns.
“As a public university in the United States of America, it is and should be within Indiana University's realm of ability to be able to present a work of abstract art, regardless of the political opinions of the artist,” Larison said.
Ormaza and O’Brien highlighted that part of education is being uncomfortable. As a future educator, he and other MFA students want to create the best environment possible for their students. O’Brien cited an Angela Davis quote: “Artists are the lightbearers.”
“How can we provide an environment where we don't get lost in that discomfort, but we can still feel it and see the light that will be a life raft for us in the stormy waters,” Ormaza said. “I think Samia, for me, is one of those lights.”
O’Brien said as future faculty members and educators, the MFA students wanted to request an apology and a reinstatement of the exhibition with compassion and understanding for the IU leaders who made this decision.
“I don't think that they wanted any harm with this decision,” O’Brien said. “At the same time, I think we're balancing the safety and the integrity of the institution on a whole and the sacred nature of truth.”
Provost Rahul Shrivastav responded to the recent controversy at a Bloomington Faculty Council meeting, saying the decision was not easy to make. He said Halaby’s art display would have been a “lightning rod” for protests in the middle of campus that would “galvanize” competing ideas.
“I will tell you from my perspective, if I have to make a decision on keeping a project or program going when there is a risk of violence or risk of other incidents, I would err on the side of caution,” Shrivastav said.
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her ataubmwrig@iu.eduor follow her on Twitter at@aubreymwright.
