The Spertus Museum closed its exhibition “Imaginary Coordinates” today, saying in a statement that it was “seriously at risk of alienating its core constituency.” The exhibition—which juxtaposed antique maps with examples of contemporary Israeli and Palestinian art and material culture—opened May 2 and was supposed to be on view until September 7.
During a press conference this morning, museum president Dr. Howard A. Sulkin said, “We came to realize that parts of the exhibition were not in keeping with our mission as a Jewish organization and did not belong at Spertus. This exhibition caused pain for members of our key audience who felt it presented anti-Israel points of view.” Curator Rhoda Rosen gave me a tour of the (excellent) exhibition last month, so I can confirm that it proposed such radical notions as 1) Palestinians exist and 2) They feel strongly about their claim to the Holy Land. (Read our contributor Philip Berger’s five-star review of “Imaginary Coordinates” here.)
Sulkin and trustee Philip Gordon refused to specify which objects were deemed offensive and insisted no particular incident had precipitated the early closing. (When I asked whether any donors had threatened to pull funding because of the show, Sulkin said, “No.”) The gallery will sit empty for now; Sulkin told me the museum has not yet decided what will replace “Imaginary Coordinates,” but hopes that a “major exhibition” organized by its Judaica curator and scheduled for September will fill the space earlier than planned.
Sulkin claims that the show’s closing is a “unique” occurrence, adding, “We are committed to asking the hard-nosed questions about a lot of things.” His remarks seem inane in light of the museum’s unusual actions: When controversy hit New York’s Jewish Museum in 2002 and the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1999, those institutions acknowledged viewers’ sensitivities but kept their exhibitions—and a meaningful dialogue—open.
Yet Gordon says, “This has nothing to do with censorship. This was a decision made entirely by the Spertus board of trustees.”
Oy.
This is very alarming. It is important for any democracy that meaningful dialogue be encouraged and supported by cultural institutions, rather than precluded. I was planning on seeing this exhibition next week, unfortunately its removal means that any possibility for discussion is eliminated by the Museum’s decision. Maps and mapping practices have become significant subjects of artistic enquiry – as maps connect subjective experience with larger political and economic realities. There have been many exhibitions and publications, in Europe and in Israel, which focus on the contested borders of the Israeli state and interrogate the connections between the physical, symbolic and subjective. It should alarm us all that the we are unable to participate in this dialogue in this country, that we remain excluded from a debate which is an intelligent, difficult and vital one for our times. Closing down the exhibition is a gagging maneuver, one perhaps we have come to expect in response to increasingly aggressive and intolerant attitudes from a small number of self-appointed “representatives” of the Jewish community in Chicago. It is precisely these attitudes which fan the flames of anti-Israel sentiments in this country.
When will this country wake up to the reality that Zionist bullying and censorship has stifled free discussion of Israel’s crimes for decades. Israel is an apartheid state and anything that challenges that is immediately shut down.
My first thought is Will the PEACE Museum take on the exhibit ?? Second, I echo the sentiments of the previous writings and would like to add some thoughts. Although the decision by Spertus to close the exhibit is exteremly troubling, it is not a surprise by any means. The reaction from ONLY SOME of the Jewish community is exactly what this exhibit was intended to do. Bring awareness to the TRUTH. The reaction is beautiful because it causes conflict with what has been drilled into the heads of our jewish community. There are millions of HUMAN BEINGS suffering in Palestine, due to the Apatheid being inflicted by Isreal for the last 60+ years.
ISREAL will not escape the judgement of history, no matter how they try to rewrite it. Oppressors are ALWAYS outed eventually. It usually begins when they start censoring.
The TRUTH about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is being discussed much more now then ever before.
The HOLY LAND does not belong to ANYONE, it belongs to EVERYONE it is called HUMANITY.