1 00:00:01,500 --> 00:00:04,033 GEOFF BENNETT: Now a story about an exhibition you cannot see. 2 00:00:04,033 --> 00:00:08,466 Some arts institutions have been roiled by tensions in the ongoing war in the Middle 3 00:00:08,466 --> 00:00:13,466 East. And one controversy has unfolded at the Art Museum of Indiana University, where a prominent 4 00:00:15,700 --> 00:00:19,600 Palestinian-American artist was scheduled to have her first American retrospective this month. 5 00:00:21,100 --> 00:00:25,200 Jeffrey Brown reports for our arts and culture series, Canvas. 6 00:00:26,666 --> 00:00:29,466 JEFFREY BROWN: A work of art returning from an exhibition 7 00:00:29,466 --> 00:00:34,466 carried up the stairs to the New York studio of its creator, Samia Halaby. 8 00:00:36,366 --> 00:00:39,800 SAMIA HALABY, Artist: Here it is, the Queen Bee being treated like a princess. 9 00:00:41,700 --> 00:00:44,500 JEFFREY BROWN: But this is no routine return. The Queen Bee was never put on 10 00:00:44,500 --> 00:00:49,466 display. The exhibition, titled Centers of Energy, and scheduled to be shown 11 00:00:51,533 --> 00:00:54,700 at the Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University, was canceled in late December. 12 00:00:56,466 --> 00:00:59,166 SAMIA HALABY: The only thing they told me was two-sentence letter. 13 00:00:59,166 --> 00:01:04,066 The show is canceled and the artwork will be returned safely. That's all. 14 00:01:04,066 --> 00:01:07,666 JEFFREY BROWN: Eighty-seven-year-old Samia Halaby is known for her large and 15 00:01:07,666 --> 00:01:12,666 vibrant abstract paintings, which she's been making for more than 60 years. In addition, 16 00:01:14,766 --> 00:01:18,133 she creates sculptures and works with fiber and textiles, and was an early practitioner 17 00:01:20,500 --> 00:01:23,466 of computer and digital art, teaching herself how to write computer programs starting in the 1980s. 18 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:30,933 She's also a passionate supporter of Palestinian culture and advocate for 19 00:01:30,933 --> 00:01:35,933 Palestinian rights. She was born in Jerusalem in 1936, when Palestine was under British control, 20 00:01:37,966 --> 00:01:41,633 fleeing with her family amid the fighting that eventually led to the creation of the 21 00:01:41,633 --> 00:01:46,600 state of Israel in 1948, the period known to Palestinians as the Nakba, or catastrophe. 22 00:01:48,466 --> 00:01:52,866 Her family eventually came to the U.S. and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. 23 00:01:52,866 --> 00:01:57,833 SAMIA HALABY: As an intellectual, I chose to be an abstractionist. I am a Palestinian, 24 00:01:59,566 --> 00:02:04,333 and I believe in the Palestinian will to have freedom. I believe in 25 00:02:05,633 --> 00:02:08,466 the right of self-determination and self-defense. 26 00:02:08,466 --> 00:02:12,966 I love Palestinian culture. All of these things are me. 27 00:02:12,966 --> 00:02:17,533 JEFFREY BROWN: Her tie to Indiana University is strong. She received her master of fine 28 00:02:17,533 --> 00:02:22,533 arts degree there in 1963 and later taught, before moving to Yale in 1972, 29 00:02:24,666 --> 00:02:29,133 where she was the first woman to have the title of associate professor at the School of Art. 30 00:02:31,233 --> 00:02:34,500 Her work is in the collections of major U.S. museums, including the National Gallery of Art 31 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,533 in Washington and the Guggenheim in New York. And she recently had a large retrospective in 32 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,266 the United Arab Emirates. The cancellation came as she was using Instagram to express 33 00:02:47,700 --> 00:02:50,866 outrage at Israel's bombing of Gaza in response to the October 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel. 34 00:02:53,133 --> 00:02:58,100 She called Israel's retaliation a genocide and compared Gaza to Auschwitz. Though she 35 00:02:59,833 --> 00:03:02,633 was well aware of the tensions at universities around the country, 36 00:03:02,633 --> 00:03:07,000 including Indiana, she says the cancellation was a surprise. 37 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:11,400 SAMIA HALABY: I thought stupidly that I was immune because I was an alumni and belonged 38 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:16,400 there. And so it came as a surprise. My first reaction was to be upset, 39 00:03:18,500 --> 00:03:23,300 because, hey, this is my second home. You know, someone is now stealing my second home from me. 40 00:03:24,933 --> 00:03:28,100 But then I got over that quickly and I thought, 41 00:03:28,100 --> 00:03:32,600 ah, the community there is really very upset about it. 42 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:36,966 ETHAN SANDWEISS, Indiana Public Media: It's been quite a big deal, and the fallout is still coming. 43 00:03:36,966 --> 00:03:41,966 JEFFREY BROWN: Ethan Sandweiss has been covering campus reaction at Indiana as 44 00:03:43,266 --> 00:03:45,333 a multimedia journalist with Indiana Public Media. 45 00:03:45,333 --> 00:03:49,266 ETHAN SANDWEISS: We're seeing a lot of students and faculty organizing protests, 46 00:03:49,266 --> 00:03:54,266 sit-ins, teach-ins. A venue in town is putting on a retrospective in the place 47 00:03:55,766 --> 00:03:59,700 of the museum. So, the response here has been quite significant. 48 00:03:59,700 --> 00:04:03,633 JEFFREY BROWN: The university itself, however, has said little publicly. 49 00:04:03,633 --> 00:04:07,633 In response to the "NewsHour"'s request for an interview with university president 50 00:04:07,633 --> 00:04:12,200 Pamela Whitten, we were referred to this previously released short statement: 51 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:16,500 "Academic leaders and campus officials canceled the exhibit due to concerns 52 00:04:16,500 --> 00:04:21,066 about guaranteeing the integrity of the exhibit for its duration." 53 00:04:21,066 --> 00:04:24,633 Last month, university provost Rahul Shrivastav 54 00:04:24,633 --> 00:04:29,300 also cited security concerns at a faculty forum, saying, in part: 55 00:04:29,300 --> 00:04:31,100 RAHUL SHRIVASTAV, Provost and Executive Vice President, Indiana University: In this case, 56 00:04:31,100 --> 00:04:35,266 we had clearly competing values. We had an exciting debut exhibit of a 57 00:04:35,266 --> 00:04:40,233 major international abstract artist and alumna three years in the making. 58 00:04:40,233 --> 00:04:45,033 We also had a potential lightning rod at a charged political moment 59 00:04:45,033 --> 00:04:49,333 that might draw ongoing or major protests and require significant 60 00:04:49,333 --> 00:04:53,700 and long-term security we would need for hundreds of other events. 61 00:04:53,700 --> 00:04:57,833 JEFFREY BROWN: Reporter Ethan Sandweiss sampled responses across the campus. 62 00:04:57,833 --> 00:05:02,833 ETHAN SANDWEISS: I haven't spoken with anyone who feels like this is a compelling enough reason to 63 00:05:05,100 --> 00:05:08,133 cancel the exhibition. I have talked to faculty members who say, if there is a security risk, 64 00:05:10,166 --> 00:05:14,833 then that's why we have an I.U. Police Department that can provide that extra security. 65 00:05:16,733 --> 00:05:20,233 So I don't think a whole lot of people are buying it within the I.U. community. 66 00:05:20,233 --> 00:05:23,000 JEFFREY BROWN: Halaby had worked on the exhibition for several years 67 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,666 with a curatorial team headed by Elliot Josephine Leila Reichert, 68 00:05:27,666 --> 00:05:32,666 who told us she was instructed to refer press inquiries to university communications officials. 69 00:05:34,733 --> 00:05:38,533 In lieu of an interview, she sent an e-mail statement to the "NewsHour" saying: "I am 70 00:05:38,533 --> 00:05:43,533 immensely proud of the work that Samia Halaby, Rachel Winter, and I accomplished together. 71 00:05:45,866 --> 00:05:49,633 Anyone who has the privilege to witness Halaby's artwork in person will understand some small 72 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,900 piece of the beauty and joy we have experienced working together over the past several years." 73 00:05:56,766 --> 00:06:01,266 The controversy at Indiana is just one example of the conflict in the arts and 74 00:06:01,266 --> 00:06:06,266 culture world since the October 7 Hamas attack, including 92NY. The cultural center in New York, 75 00:06:09,533 --> 00:06:14,533 canceled an October event with a novelist who signed a public letter critical of Israel. 76 00:06:16,633 --> 00:06:20,133 Several staff members resigned in protest and other authors pulled out of their events. 77 00:06:22,066 --> 00:06:25,633 The editor in chief at "Artforum," a prominent arts magazine, was fired after 78 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:30,000 the magazine published an open letter from artists calling for a cease-fire 79 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,800 in Gaza. At another Midwestern university, the Wexner Center for the Arts the arts at 80 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:39,800 Ohio State decided to keep an exhibition by a Palestinian artist that had opened prior 81 00:06:41,766 --> 00:06:45,600 to October 7. But it had canceled a public panel she was scheduled to take part in. 82 00:06:47,500 --> 00:06:51,200 In a follow-up e-mail to the university administration, we asked if it was aware 83 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:55,600 of specific security risks, whether it had canceled the exhibition due to 84 00:06:55,600 --> 00:07:00,600 Samia Halaby's public statements, and if it had received pressure to cancel the exhibition from 85 00:07:02,633 --> 00:07:06,233 politicians or donors. We were once again referred to the one-sentence statement. 86 00:07:08,066 --> 00:07:11,233 Samia Halaby, however, believes she knows why her exhibit was canceled. 87 00:07:11,233 --> 00:07:15,800 SAMIA HALABY: Oh, it's obviously an extension of what's happening in Gaza, where Palestinians are 88 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:20,800 not allowed to speak or express our opinion, or, in my case, because it wasn't a political show, 89 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:27,466 provide a role model to students as to what intellectual activity could be like. 90 00:07:29,300 --> 00:07:34,233 JEFFREY BROWN: But a museum or a university in this case does have 91 00:07:34,233 --> 00:07:38,366 a right to decide who they're going to exhibit? 92 00:07:38,366 --> 00:07:41,266 SAMIA HALABY: Yes, and they decided to take me two-and-a-half-years ago, 93 00:07:41,266 --> 00:07:46,266 so they changed when the genocide began. So, what gives here? 94 00:07:48,433 --> 00:07:51,133 JEFFREY BROWN: So, you have no regrets about using that language? 95 00:07:51,133 --> 00:07:56,000 SAMIA HALABY: Do I not have a right to express my feelings? My feelings is that 96 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:01,000 I'm horrified. I'm equally horrified when I see other things happening. I'm 97 00:08:02,933 --> 00:08:07,800 equally horrified at the Holocaust of the Jews. I'm equally horrified at -- about 98 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,633 Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I'm horrified by what happened to the African Americans. 99 00:08:15,900 --> 00:08:20,200 When I read about all of these things, they bring me to great sadness. 100 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:25,200 JEFFREY BROWN: Meanwhile, on campus, a petition to reinstate the exhibition is circulating, 101 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:29,233 and reporter Ethan Sandweiss is hearing fears of another kind of fallout. 102 00:08:29,233 --> 00:08:34,233 ETHAN SANDWEISS: A lot of faculty that I have spoken with are worried that these signals that 103 00:08:36,133 --> 00:08:40,633 the university could be sending, perhaps inadvertently, that they are not standing 104 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,533 strongly enough by their researchers, it could send a signal to people who might apply to I.U. 105 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:53,000 as students, as graduate students, as faculty that Indiana is not a place where they would be 106 00:08:55,233 --> 00:08:59,200 welcome and it's not a place where they would be able to perform their research undisturbed. 107 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:03,833 JEFFREY BROWN: As for Samia Halaby, her work will next be shown at the upcoming 108 00:09:03,833 --> 00:09:08,400 Venice Biennale, one of the world's leading international art exhibitions. 109 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:13,400 And her canceled retrospective exhibition is so far scheduled to run at its next venue, 110 00:09:15,133 --> 00:09:19,433 Michigan State University's Broad Art Museum, beginning June 29. 111 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:22,833 For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown.