University of Indiana cancels Palestinian artist Samia Halaby.
Born in Jerusalem in 1936, Samia Halaby is a leading abstract painter and a scholar of Palestinian art.
Although based in the United States since 1951, Halaby is recognized as a pioneer of contemporary abstract painting in the Arab world.
Halaby began her career in the early 1960s, shortly after graduating from Indiana University with a MFA in Painting.
While teaching at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1964, she travelled to the Eastern Mediterranean to study the geometric abstraction of the region’s Islamic architecture, which has continuously factored into her work.
Indiana University’s Eskenazi Museum of Art has reportedly canceled a career-spanning survey for Samia Halaby, a Palestinian artist known for her abstract paintings.
Halaby, who is currently the subject of a larger retrospective in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates was to see her 35-work show open in February. But, speaking to Hyperallergic, Madison Gordon, a board member of the artist’s foundation, said that Indiana University decided not to open the show as planned because of “safety concerns.”
A representative for Indiana University said in a statement that “academic leaders and campus officials canceled the exhibit due to concerns about guaranteeing the integrity of the exhibit for its duration.”
Huh?
IU is canceling the exhibit to guarantee its integrity?
What bullshit.
Over 5,000 people have signed a petition urging Indiana University at Bloomington (IU) to reinstate a canceled retrospective of Palestinian artist Samia Halaby.
This morning I added my name to the petition.