'Uncanceled' event at Buskirk-Chumley showcases Samia Halaby's art and life

Members of the Indiana University and Bloomington communities got a glimpse into the art and life of renowned abstract artist Samia Halaby last weekend, but not through the Eskenazi Museum of Art. Samia Halaby Uncanceled, a free event at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, sought to prove that Halaby’s work could be safely shown to the Bloomington community.

Halaby, an IU alumna and Palestinian-born artist, was originally set to debut her first American retrospective at the museum this spring. However, the exhibition was canceled in late December due to concerns that Halaby’s work and activism – especially her Instagram posts, where she’s been an outspoken critic of the Israeli counteroffensive on the Gaza Strip – could create safety and security concerns. IU’s provost, Rahul Shrivastav, said the exhibition could be a “potential lightning rod” on campus.

“The provost had said that Samia Halaby herself and her art would be a ‘lightning rod,’ and I was thrilled to death that there was no mist, no droplets, let alone lightning,” said Elizabeth Housworth, a mathematics professor at IU who organized the event.

The sold-out event included screenings of a documentary by filmmaker Bill Winters about Halaby’s "kinetic paintings" programmed on a Commodore Amiga in the 1980s, a recording of Halaby’s 2019 “Conversations with Contemporary Artists” talk at the Guggenheim Museum, and a home video of Halaby from her grand-niece, Madison Gordon.

Faisal Saleh, president of the Palestine Museum US, also presented on Halaby’s life and read a statement from the artist regarding her cancellation and the climate at IU.

“I am moved by the energy and commitment of all at IU who have become politically active because of the repression of Palestinian and non-Palestinian voices regarding the genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza,” Halaby’s statement read. “We need unions of faculty, students and staff, and workers collaborating to appointing administrators that respect the collective will, not the will of those who rule from above.”

Housworth said she organized the event, which was also sponsored by the IU AAUP, to both learn about Halaby’s art and life for herself, and to share that with the local community.

“Something was being taken away from the Indiana University community and the Bloomington community, and that was Samia Halaby, and her art,” Housworth said. “And why we were missing it is because she feels strongly about Palestine and Palestinians. And so I wanted to learn more about her, and in putting on this event, I did.”

Housworth said through the process of organizing the event and requesting permissions for video screenings, she got in touch with Halaby through her grand-niece Gordon.

“She has been supportive and helpful,” Housworth said. “And she is happy that there were faculty at Indiana University willing to stand up for her.”

‘Green Feather Movement’ gains traction

Student organizers at the event distributed green feathers, a growing sign of organization and resistance to perceived academic freedom violations on campus that hearkens back to an IU student movement of the 1950s.

“There was a push by conservative lawmakers to ban Robin Hood from Indiana coursework, on the grounds that the story promoted communist values, and this green feather became a symbol of resistance to McCarthyism that actually spread to campuses all across the country,” said Renae Lesser, a graduate student at IU’s School of Education. “The green feathers that we’re reviving now is this nod to the fact that that started in the Midwest. It started right here at IU.”

Green feathers and safety pins were distributed in the entrance and lobby of the Buskirk-Chumley, which were donned by many attendees.Lesser said the contemporary green feather movement aims to build coalitions across organizations that are facing challenges to academic freedom, including the Kinsey Institute, pro-Palestinian activists, and those resisting potential changes to tenure with SB 202.

“We feel like these attacks are coming from all directions, but when you take a step back, we actually see how they’re connected,” Lesser said. “They’re part of this larger trend.”

‘Don't cancel anyone else': Looking to IU for leadership

Housworth said the event, which engaged heavily with Halaby’s artwork, caused her to question why Halaby’s art was controversial enough to warrant a cancellation from IU.

“It was very clear to me that she was, first and foremost, an artist,” Housworth said. “As a Palestinian-American, she felt that she was free to be political, that her free speech rights were preserved no matter what her career in America, and that she got to speak for Palestinians. But first and foremost, she was an artist.”

Housworth said based on her conversations with Halaby and Gordon, she doesn’t think there’s a possibility that IU reinstates the canceled exhibition.

“It has been sent back to wherever it came from, it’s been sent on to the Broad Institute, it’s not coming back,” Housworth said. “I don’t even know that Samia would support it coming back without a profuse apology.”

Housworth said rather than attempting to change course for this decision, she hopes IU will support more freedom of speech and academic freedom in the future.

“What I hope going forward is that they don’t cancel anyone else,” Housworth said. “If you start limiting someone, you give the administration permission to limit somebody else. I hope what everybody learns is that free speech and academic freedom is important.”

Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Buskirk Chumley hosts sold-out Samia Halaby films, talk