Resolve Collective Cancels Barbican Show over “Anti-Palestinian Censorship”

Resolve Collective, an interdisciplinary group of designers addressing social issues through art, architecture, technology and engineering, are shutting down their exhibition at London’s Barbican, citing “anti-Palestinian censorship” and “a number of shameful incidents” involving the venue’s staff as among its main reasons for doing so. “Them’s the Breaks,” which opened March 30 towarmreviews, was originally scheduled to close July 16; instead, the collective will clear out Barbican’s Curve Gallery, where it was situated, by June 26. They will distribute the show’s materials to “organizations, practices and individuals interested and in need” through a series of “closing down sales.” The empty gallery will remain open to the public through July 16.RelatedHELEN FRANKENTHALER FOUNDATION SUED FOR “DESTROYING” PAINTER’S LEGACYBMA CREATES PAID INTERNSHIPS HONORING VALERIE MAYNARD The early closure was prompted in part by a June 15 visit to the Barbican by Resolve Collective. According to a post on the group’s Instagram, they arrived at the Barbican to attend a talk by Egyptian researcher Nihal El Assar and Elias Anastas, a cofounder of the Palestinian radio station Radio AlHara, only to be told by organizer Abiba Coulibaly that the talk had been canceled after a member of Barbican staff warned Anastas not to discuss Palestine’s liberation struggle at length, in order to “safeguard the audience.” Resolve Collective acknowledged that the Barbican offered a “sincere apology” to both the collective and Radio AlHara, and that the talk had been rescheduled, but noted that the incident took place just hours after they had emailed Barbican leadership to complain of being mistreated by various members of front-of-house staff during the course of their own exhibition. Among the indignities members say they experienced are “hostility towards close family and friends at the exhibition opening; heavy-handed and overly-suspicious treatment when entering our exhibition with a group of other Black and Brown artists; and being publicly deprecated and infantilized whilst ushered out of our exhibition space” at the end of a rave at the venue while the exhibition curator and producer were allowed to remain.

“Prior even to the events of Thursday 15th June,” the collective wrote, “our experiences at the Barbican had led us to a frustrating, yet unsurprising, conclusion: that today, despite the best intentions of many good individuals within the institution, young Black artists such as ourselves and other peers who seek to platform their communities, cannot be guaranteed to be treated with respect and dignity when working there.” The criticism and closure hit hard for the Barbican, which since 2021 has been struggling to rectify conditions that led to the publication ofBarbican Stories,adossiercompiling 98 anonymous accounts of alleged racism and discrimination at the center. Following news of the early closure, Barbican CEO Claire Spencer and artistic director Will Gompertz issued a joint statement, which read in part, “During the run of their exhibition, Resolve Collective and their collaborators have been subject to a number of unacceptable experiences, which included the events that took place 15 June. We are deeply sorry for the pain caused to the members of Resolve Collective and those involved in their exhibition. Nobody should have to work in a place where they don’t feel welcome and respected. Will and I are taking this situation extremely seriously and are currently working with the broader Barbican team to understand the details of what happened.” Added the pair, “A great deal of work has already gone into building a new culture at the Barbican in which all our people, and those who we work with, are valued, supported, and feel they belong. It’s clear we have a lot more work to do but we are committed to making the Barbican a place that is inclusive, welcoming, and safe for everyone.”.