[Nettime-bold] CANCELLED, an opportunity for cultural understanding.

[JSalloum@aol.com]

(with apolgies for cross posting):

--
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Letter of protest

ARTISTS PROTEST THE 'POSTPONEMENT ' OF EXHIBITION ON ARAB-CANADIAN ART

"Ces pays qui m'habitent/ The Lands Within Me", presenting the work of thirty 
Arab-Canadian artists at the Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec, is to be 
"postpone"’ until further notice. As participants in the exhibition we voice 
our concern and outrage at this decision which was received this week with 
very short notice. The planned opening date was Oct. 18th. Exhibition 
preparations have been going on for five years. We have no doubt that the 
tragic events that took place on the September 11th in New York and 
Washington precipitated the decision. Just a few days earlier the Museum had 
sent letters confirming the opening date and requesting a list of invitees.

It is unfortunate that in this time of backlashes and a rise of racist 
attacks against members of our community, a federal government institution 
(one of the largest public museums in Canada) is assuming such an 
unproductive and unsupportive position. 

In the midst of this recent wave of racism and intolerance, governmental 
agencies and politicians are conducting various campaigns of cultural 
awareness and tolerance. It is troubling that the Museum of Civilization is 
taking exactly the opposite stance. It is postponing an important and unique 
cultural event that has the potential to counteract some of the prejudices 
that our community has so long endured.

The Museum has indicated that the purpose of the postponement is to provide a 
"context" for the exhibition in light of anti-Arab sentiment following the 
attacks on the U.S. on September 11th. We stress that this kind of "spin 
control" actually encourages such a sentiment by anticipating a racist 
response from the audience.

We firmly believe that cultural events such as this have a important 
educational and humanitarian role, and that they are needed at times like 
this more then ever. By postponing or canceling such an important exhibition, 
the Museum sends a message with grave implications, for example;

1) that any event involving Arab culture needs to be "spin-controlled".

2) that any present or future event conducted by or for the Arab-Canadian 
community is liable to be a security risk.

3) that all Canadians are believed to hold a position of antagonism towards 
the Arab-Canadian community, resulting in a risk of low attendance.

4) that an assumption could be made that bias, punitive, and racist 
collective measures have been approved by the Museum of Civilization's board 
of directors.

We believe that the Museum needs to stand up and show support for the 
Arab-Canadian community and to exhibit the exemplary art works made by 
Arab-Canadian artists. This will help bridge the divide between Canadians and 
will assist in bringing about an understanding amongst  the Arab-Canadian and 
other communities. WE ASK THAT THE MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION RECONSIDER THE 
'POSTPONEMENT' OF THIS EXHIBITION OR RESCHEDULE IT AT THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE 
DATE.


WE REQUEST all who support us to contact the Museum of Civilization
and voice their concerns;

To:
Dr. Victor Rabinovitch, President and Chief Executive Officer,  (819) 
776-7116,
   victor.rabinovitch@civilization.ca

Pierre Pontbriand, Vice President, (819) 776-8515, 
   pierre.pontbriand@civilization.ca

Louise Dubois, Corporate Secretary and Director General, Strategic Planning, 
(819) 776-7115,
   louise.dubois@civilization.ca 

Michel Cheff, Director, Operations, Office of the President and CEO, (819) 
776-7131, 
   michel.cheff@civilization.ca

CC: 
stephen.inglis@civilization.ca, aida.kaouk@civilisations.ca, 
sylvie.Morel@civilisations.ca, susan.gervais@civilisations.ca, 



Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,

Rawi Hage (exhibition artist) Montréal, rawi@sympatico.ca
Jayce Salloum (exhibition artist) Vancouver, jsalloum@aol.com
Laura Marks (writer/critic), Ottawa, laura_marks@carleton.ca


PLEASE FEEL FREE TO FORWARD THIS LETTER.



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