A St. Louis art center has been criticized for closing an exhibition because it deemed several pro-Palestinian works on display to be anti-Semitic.
The works were created by artists Dani Collette and Allora McCullough, who were selected by the exhibition and gallery space Craft Alliance for an 11-month artist-in-residence program in July 2023. The residency program provides artists with shared studio space, a stipend, tuition waivers, and the opportunity to organize an exhibition.
The exhibition, titled “Sowing Seeds, Sprouting Hope,” opened on June 21 and was scheduled to run until July 20. However, shortly before the opening, two of Colette’s works were removed, allegedly without the artist’s knowledge: a glass bowl decorated with a headscarf print and a A symbol of unityand several watermelon-shaped pieces inscribed with the words “land restitution,” a phrase widely used by the Indigenous decolonization movement to demand the return of settler-occupied land.
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In addition, title cards were removed from some of Colette’s works, including the artwork Palestinian indigenous people and From River to Oceanthe latter being a slogan historically used by supporters of a Palestinian state.
“I arrived and my work and title were gone, which I thought was a very disrespectful and aggressive gesture, without any kind of discussion or effort to have one,” Aboriginal artist Colette told St. Louis Public RadioShe added that her purpose in using the phrase was to “discuss the positive ways Palestinians/Gazans use it. I had a Palestinian tell me personally that when they use the phrase, it is a call for freedom, equality and peace for all residents, both Jews and Israelis, from the river to the sea.”
Craft Alliance No response Art NewsThe company had not received a request for comment as of press time.
On June 24, the Crafts Union posted on Facebook and Instagram that it had decided to remove the exhibition because the works and titles contained “anti-Semitic slogans[s] and images” calling for “violence and the destruction of the Jewish state of Israel.” St. Louis MagazineBrian Knisley, executive director of the Craft Alliance, said he knew the “general theme” of the exhibit but not its “specific content” until 45 minutes before the opening, when a Jewish volunteer called its content offensive.
“While we are saddened by this situation and feel for the artists, we are following our policies and procedures for the safety of our staff, volunteers, members, donors, students and patrons,” Nicely said. “Most organizations that work with artists to display political work do a lot of upfront work to educate staff, patrons and children — especially children and their parents. These artists did not provide us with the opportunity to educate the community in any meaningful way. It was reckless to complete a political exhibit hours before it opened, and these artists left the burden of public interpretation on our staff and volunteers.”
However, the artists claim that while they may have delayed finalizing the details of the exhibition, the coalition team was informed of the exhibition’s anti-genocide concept two months ago and shared the artwork’s title a day before the exhibition opened.
“I hope more people will accept that art spaces are safe spaces for expression, which can sometimes make people uncomfortable, but never violent,” McCullough said. “I think the response of taking away my livelihood and removing Dani’s work, especially her Indigenous work, is an act of violence.”
Meanwhile, Fifteen Windows Gallery in St. Louis has offered to host the exhibition starting July 13, with an artist talk planned for August 10.
Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, and Israel launched a ground and air offensive against the Gaza Strip, allegations of censorship of artists or cultural workers for speaking out about Palestinian and Israeli issues have increased dramatically in the United States and Europe. In May, a new online database, the Arts Censorship Index, was launched to track and map such incidents in the United States.
