Jewish and Muslim art lovers are furious at a Pittsburgh museum for postponing an exhibition of Islamic art because of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The Frick Pittsburgh has quietly postponed its exhibition, “Treasured Ornament: 10 Centuries of Islamic Art,” until August 2024, believing it would be “insensitive” to display it while the conflict continues.
But the executive director of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Christine Mohamed, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that she hopes the museum will reverse its decision.
He said postponing it “perpetuates the harmful stereotype that Muslims or Islamic art are synonymous with terrorism or anti-Semitism.”
Adam Hertzman of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh said the museum should not have linked the exhibit to the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel or the bombing of Gaza.
“As with any community, some people will go to see the exhibit and others will not. But I don’t think anyone even remotely connects it to what’s happening in the Middle East,” he told the Washington Post.
“In general, we know that blaming any religious group for the actions of a terrorist organization or foreign government is an incident of bias.”
Christine Mohamed is the executive director of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.Christine Mohamed/LinkedIn The Frick Pittsburgh quietly postponed its exhibition, Treasured Ornament: 10 Centuries of Islam Art, until August because it believes it would be “insensitive.” ”to show as the war between Israel and Hamas continues.Google Maps
The exhibition was supposed to open on Saturday and feature works of modern glassware, ceramics, metalwork, paintings and more from countries across the Middle East.
But museum director Elizabeth Barker said the decision was made because the art center was concerned it could be harmful to the Jewish community, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
“When war broke out in the Middle East, we were as heartbroken as everyone else and realized that we were about to open an exhibition that a forgiving person would call insensitive, but that for many people, especially in our community, would be traumatic. ” she said.
Adam Hertzman of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh said the museum should not have linked the exhibit to the tragedy in Gaza.AFP via Getty Images
Internal conversations to postpone the exhibition began on October 11, according to emails seen by the local media. Barker reportedly said she wanted to discuss the future of the exhibition “given the war in Israel and the inflammatory anti-Islamic rhetoric related to the current political environment.”
He highlighted that Pittsburgh has a large Jewish population and the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting that killed 11 people.
The official decision was made on October 16 during a virtual meeting, according to the Tribune-Review.
The museum was not originally planning to announce the postponement, but after receiving backlash, it posted a statement on its website.
A still image taken from a video released by Hamas apparently shows Hamas soldiers in battle.via REUTERS
“The Frick is devastated to have hurt neighbors we deeply respect with our unclear communication about the postponement of this exhibition featuring ten centuries of Islamic art,” he wrote. “We will work seriously to repair our relations with the Muslim community.”
The museum stated that it postponed it with the “intention of improving it.”
“As we look deeper into the program, we are concerned about the light historical context and our lack of engagement with the regional Muslim community.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn