12 March 21-27, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | Culture | Night+Day | News | Letters | coNteNts | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Vanishing Act ICA Miami quietly removes portrait of Palestinian scholar from major retrospective. BY DOUGLAS MARKOWITZ I n the waning weeks of a retrospective exhibition of works by American con- ceptual artist Charles Gaines, the Insti- tute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA) removed from view an artwork depict- ing prominent Palestinian scholar Edward Said, who died in 2003. Part of a series of portraits depicting influ- ential philosophers and theorists, Faces 1: Iden- tity Politics #10, Edward Said was hung as part of a retrospective on the artist that opened on November 16, 2023. But Gaines’ painting of Said, a Palestinian- American scholar most famous for coining the concept of orientalism in his 1978 book of the same name, vanished despite having been fea- tured in press materials and coverage of the show. (According to the original exhibition checklist, six paintings in the “Faces” series depicting Aristotle, Karl Marx, Luce Irigaray, Dolores Huerta, bell hooks [née Gloria Jean Watkins], and Said were included in the show.) Who Asked for the Removal? Despite numerous attempts to contact mu- seum officials, ICA Miami has offered no ex- planation for the vanishing act. A source at the museum believes the painting may have been removed in order to avoid angering pro-Israel members of the ICA’s board of trustees. According to the source, who spoke on condition that their name not be published, the painting was re- moved prior to a fundraising gala on March 2. The source says the removal took place after several board members stormed out of a Feb- ruary 18 lecture by essayist Cathy Park Hong, who mentioned the ongoing Israel-Palestin- ian conflict in her remarks. “Given Said is Palestinian, I would say those funding the museum might not have been too happy to see that in the exhibition,” the source tells New Times. Neither ICA Miami nor its public relations representatives at Schwartz Media Strategies have responded to repeated requests for com- ment. A New Times reporter visited the mu- seum on Wednesday, March 13, and was told the entire floor on which the painting had been hung was closed to prepare for an event. Mem- bers of the museum’s senior staff declined to meet with the reporter; front desk staff sug- gested he contact Kerry Kneer, the ICA’s direc- tor of exhibitions. A phone call to Kneer went to voicemail; soon after, the reporter received a call from the same number but was discon- nected immediately. A follow-up call went di- rectly to voicemail and was not returned. Hauser & Wirth, the Zurich-headquar- tered gallery that represents Gaines, has not responded to a request for comment. Gaines frequently alludes to leftist, anti- capitalist, and anti-colonial figures and move- ments in his work. His retrospective at the museum, titled “Charles Gaines: 1992-2023,” features several politically minded bodies of work, including “Manifestos,” which sets to music texts from the Black Panther Party, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, and other political groups. One of the scholars de- picted in “Faces” is that of Karl Marx — a seemingly controversial move in Miami. But Marx’s portrait has stayed up. In a March 2 Instagram post, the activist group Art Against Displacement noted the absence of the painting, which was and re- mains listed as part of the show on the Bloomberg Connects app. “Why was Said removed while the other scholars remained in the show?” the post reads in part. “The stark removal of a Pales- tinian, solely based on their Palestinian iden- tity, is chilling against the material reality of the Israeli occupation’s daily, murderous as- saults on Palestinians.” While the ICA continues to maintain its si- lence, at least one of its founders has demon- strated support for the Israeli cause. Local billionaire Norman Braman reportedly funded Israeli settlements in the West Bank and financially backed noted pro-Israel U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. As the New York Times re- ported in 2014, Braman and his wife, Irma, promised to “single-handedly” bankroll the ICA’s Design District building; the couple is listed as founders of the institution on the mu- seum’s website. (Irma Braman chairs the ex- ecutive committee of ICA’s board of trustees.) New Times reached out to the Braman Art Foundation, asking to speak with Braman. A representative told the reporter he was in a meeting. The disappearing Said comes amid in- creased scrutiny of Israel as the country’s military continues its siege in Gaza following an October 7, 2023, raid by Hamas that killed an estimated 1,200 people. Shortly after the attack, the Israeli Defense Forces launched a bombing campaign and military invasion of Gaza that has killed more than 31,000 people, according to recent estimates from the Gaza health ministry. Israel’s tactics, which include blockades, bombing of hospitals, and shooting at civilians during humanitarian aid drops, have spurred worldwide criticism, including an accusation leveled by South Africa in the International Court of Justice that the country is conducting a genocide against the Palestinian people. Artists, too, have criticized the Israeli of- fensive and called for a ceasefire, including film director Jonathan Glazer, who won an Oscar earlier this month for the Holocaust film The Zone of Interest. Glazer used his ac- ceptance speech to compare the complicity of the film’s Nazi characters in the genocide of Jews with the current situation in Gaza, criticizing his own “Jewishness and the Holo- caust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent peo- ple.” Others have involved themselves with campaigns such as Artists for Ceasefire. History of Censorship The ICA is far from the first art institution to have been accused of censoring pro-Palestine voices since the war in Gaza began. The In- ternational Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art has identified a pattern of censorship against Palestinian voices in art institutions in recent months. In London, several artists pulled works from an exhibition at the Barbican Centre after a talk focused on Israel and Palestine was canceled. In Toronto, a Palestinian-American artist protested the alteration of her artwork by the Royal Ontario Museum by conducting an overnight sit-in. And in New York, El Museo Del Barrio drew criticism for removing an artwork featuring Palestinian iconography that the museum itself had commissioned. Many artists have signed petitions and let- ters addressing censorship by Western insti- tutions relating to the ongoing conflict in Israel. In January, 650 artists and writers, in- cluding Annie Ernaux, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature, signed the Strike Germany petition pledging to boycott Ger- man cultural institutions for “McCarthyist policies” relating to pro-Palestinian speech. In December 2023, more than 1,300 artists signed an open letter published by Artists for Palestine UK accusing museums and other cultural institutions of “silencing and stigma- tizing” Palestinian viewpoints, while another 2,000 artists and writers, including Nan Goldin, Kara Walker, and Tilda Swinton signed a separate open letter demanding a ceasefire shortly after the war began in Octo- ber. Artforum fired its top editor, David Velasco, over his signing the letter, prompting mass resignations from the staff. Closer to home, other South Florida muse- ums have found themselves embroiled in controversy over alleged censorship. In 2020, Miami Dade College’s Museum ▼ Culture Charles Gaines’ Faces 1: Identity Politics, #10, Edward Said, 2018 Photo courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth
