Rene — Arab-Canadians cry foul over early closure of Ottawa exhibit
Topic(s): Censorship | Comments Off on Rene — Arab-Canadians cry foul over early closure of Ottawa exhibitMuseum director David Rabinovitch denies charges of censorship
By May Farah, Special to The Daily Star
The Daily Star
DS 20/09/03
Feature
Arab-Canadians cry foul over early closure of Ottawa exhibit
OTTAWA: When Canada’s new Museum of Civilization opened its door to the
public over a decade ago, it did so with the unwavering intention of
staying true to its mandate: to foster in Canadians, all Canadians,
“a sense of their common identity and their shared past,” and “to
promote understanding between the various cultural groups that are
part of Canadian society.” However, recent actions has led some to
question, even criticize, whether the museum has been faltering in
its mission by neglecting certain groups of Canadian society.
The real trouble began earlier this year when The Lands Within Me:
Expressions by Canadian Artists of Arab Origin exhibit, which was part
of the Museum’s Southwest Asian/Middle East program and featured the
works of 65 Arab-Canadian artists, came to an abrupt end, failing to
live up to its initially outlined intention.
The exhibit, which ran from Oct.19, 2001, to March of this year,
was to travel to other cities across Canada and eventually to other
countries. However, on March 9, the exhibit ended and the possibilities
of traveling came to an abrupt halt as well.
Shortly after, the museum announced it was terminating its entire
Southwest Asian/Middle East program.
But the museum’s president denied that the program had been canceled,
saying that the program never existed.
“This is a make-believe ‘program’ that simply doesn’t have any relation
with reality here,” Victor Rabinovitch told The Daily Star via e-mail.
He added that the museum had lived up to its agreed-upon commitment
regarding the exhibition.
“The exhibition The Lands Within Me ran at the museum for about
17 months, almost one-and-half years. It was located in one of the
most prominent exhibition spaces in the building, and had full public
programming support from museum staff. This is exactly as was planned
several years ago.”
But Rabinovitch is quoted in various news outlets in Canada as saying
that the exhibit troubled him because it was anti-Semitic in that
“it seemed to disseminate aggressive anger,” and the museum should not
“rehash the things that divide us.”
This is apparently based on a 10-second clip in a video, one of the
many visual installations, that shows an actual Israeli plane bombing
Lebanon and a Palestinian in an Israeli jail.
According to the National Council on Canada Arab Relations, a
nongovernmental organization working to enhance and foster better
relations between Canada and the Arab world, Rabinovitch’s words and
actions “amount to an effort to censor art at one of Canada’s most
prominent museums.”
“This move really smacks of Big Brother,” says council executive
director Mazen Chouaib. “It is disturbing to see a government
institution such as the MOC enacting policies that essentially amount
to censorship, as well as undermining our multicultural values,
and thus dividing Canadian communities.”
In a country that values freedom, says the council, such a program
would only allow Canadians the freedom of better understanding the
Arab community in Canada and abroad.
Another reason the museum claimed it pulled the plug on the program was
reportedly because it wanted to “get out of ethnic categorizations.”
However, it has taken no similar action against the Southeast Asian
and Western European programs, which are still in full operation.
“The justification for the cancellation of the program that I
received from Dr. Rabinovitch and his staff that the program did not
fulfill its mandate is flawed and obviously a cover for other more
political objections,” says Chouaib. “It is a blow to Canadian values
and undermines the fabric of our multicultural tapestry. The program
affects all cultures and communities that come from that part of the
world Indians, Pakistanis, Somalis, Armenians, Turks and Iranians,
to name a few.”
In an open protest letter against Rabinovitch’s decisions, a group
of artists some of them Arab-Canadians said the museum’s actions
were troubling. “The museum continues to aggravate an unhealthy
nationwide atmosphere of racism and political aggression against the
Arab community, while it is in a position to help heal this attitude
by promoting The Lands Within Me,” they said.
Moreover, according to the letter, while the museum “justifies its
decision to close the Southwest Asian/Middle East program on the
grounds of ‘get(ting) out of ethnic categorizations,’ other programs,
such as Southeast Asia or Southwest Europe, are exempt from this
closure. Thus the decision amounts to an ethnic cleansing of the
museum, a final closing of its ears to Arab and other Southwest
Asian voices.”
For the council, the decision came at a crucial point in time, when
Arabs are often unjustly stereotyped in a negative manner. “A Middle
East program,” says Chouaib, “would show Canadians a first-class
perspective of Arab artists.”
As for the participating artists, there is clear disappointment,
even anger, because promises were made that never materialized. The
artists were told by the museum that there would be an opportunity for
their art to travel around Canada, Europe and possibly the Middle East.
“From the outset, the exhibition was presented as one that would be
ideal to travel nationally or internationally. This possibility
affected the work that I suggested,” says Jamelie Hassan,
a Lebanese-Canadian visual artist whose work received Canada’s
prestigious Governor General’s Award in 2001. “The lack of advocacy
in the museum at a crucial time to fundraise so that the exhibition
could travel had a detrimental affect.”
Ultimately, the exhibit did not travel because the museum stated that
it could not raise the necessary money.
However, according to the council, serious and successful efforts by
the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade raised funds
to tour the exhibit, but the museum did not fulfill its obligation
to do the same. “The museum’s only response to this accusation was
that it could not find sufficient funds for this endeavor despite
the fact that the exhibit pulled in almost a quarter of a million
visitors,” says Chouaib.
>From the very beginning, the exhibit has had a tumultuous history,
and almost never came to be. Initially scheduled to begin in October
2001, just one month after the Sept. 11 attacks, Rabinovitch announced
shortly after that it would be postponed. However, after a barrage
of phone calls and letters from across Canada insisting the exhibit
go ahead as scheduled, along with public officials who intervened
insisting such an exhibition would contribute to tolerance and
understanding, Rabinovitch was obliged to reverse his decision.
Two artists who were part of the exhibition, Rawi Hage and Jayce
Salloum, along with writer/critic Laura Marks, wrote an open e-mail,
which stated 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. 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 between the Arab-Canadian and other communities.”
The Lands Within Me was the most extensive exhibition ever
mounted in North America on the work of contemporary Arab-Canadian
artists. Despite the public outcry, there has been no change in the
museum’s decision to terminate the Southwest Asian/Middle East program.