[Nettime-bold] Fwd: Letter of protest

[Neal Thomas <hivemedia@yahoo.com>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Letter of protest

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

"Ces pays qui m'habitent/ The Lands Within Me",
presenting the work of
thirty Arab-Canadian artists at the Canadian Museum of
Civilization in 
Hull,
Quebec, is to be "postponed" 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
September 11th in
New York and Washington precipitated the decision,
since just a few 
days
earlier the Museum sent all the artists letters
affirming the opening 
date
and requesting a list of invitees (copies available
upon request).

We believe that the decision was a political one. 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 sentiment by
anticipating a racist
response from the audience.

We firmly believe that cultural events such as this
have an 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) or, possibly, that biased, 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 among Canadians 
and
will assist in bringing about an understanding between
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 ASK ALL WHO SUPPORT US TO CONTACT THE MUSEUM OF
CIVILIZATION AND 
VOICE
THEIR CONCERNS @:

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

Dr. Stephen Inglis
Director General
(819) 776-8239
stephen.inglis@civilization.ca

Sincerely,
Rawi Hage (exhibition artist), Montreal,
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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