Jewish and Muslim art lovers are furious at a Pittsburgh museum for delaying an exhibition of Islamic art because of the Israel-Hamas War.
Pittsburgh’s Frick quietly postponed its exhibit, “Precious Ornaments: 10 Centuries of Islamic Art,” until August 2024 because it believed it would be “insensitive” to exhibit during the ongoing conflict.
But the Pittsburgh chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Executive Director, Christine Mohamed, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review she hopes the museum reverses its decision.
He said suspending it “perpetuates dangerous stereotypes that Muslims or Islamic art are synonymous with violence or antisemitism.”
Adam Hertzman of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh said the museum should not associate the exhibit with Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel or the bombing of Gaza.
“Like any community, some people will go see the exhibition and some people won’t. But I don’t think anyone 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 a one-sided incident.”
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 exhibit, Treasured Ornament: 10 Centuries of Islamic Art, until August because it believed it would be “insensitive” to display as the Israel-Hamas War continues.Google Maps
The exhibition was due to open on Saturday, and features 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 might hurt the Jewish community, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
“When the war broke out in the Middle East, we were as sad as everyone else, and we realized that we were going to open an exhibition that the forgiving people would call insensitive, but for many people, especially in our community, would be traumatic,” he said.
Adam Hertzman of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh said the museum should not link the exhibit to the tragedy in Gaza. AFP via Getty Images
Internal negotiations on postponing the exhibition began on October 11, according to emails seen by local outlets. Barker reportedly said he wanted to discuss the future of the exhibit “given the war in Israel and the anti-Islamic rhetoric mixed with the current political environment.”
He emphasized 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 had not originally planned to announce the delay, but after receiving backlash, it released a statement on its website.
A still image taken from a video released by Hamas appears to show Hamas soldiers in combat.via REUTERS
“The Frick is deeply saddened to have hurt our respected neighbors with our unclear communication regarding the postponement of this exhibit featuring ten centuries of Islamic art,” he wrote. “We will work hard to improve our relationship with the Muslim community.”
The museum claims it was delayed with “the intention of making it better.”
“As we looked more deeply at the show, we became concerned with the light historical context and our lack of engagement with the regional Muslim community.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
