Collectors Pull Lent Works From London’s Barbican

Collectors started pulling lent artworks from the Barbican in London, as an act of protest and solidarity with Palestine. Everything started when the arts center cancelled a talk titled “The Shoah after Gaza” by Indian writer Pankaj Mishra. Collectors Lorenzo Legarda Leviste and Fahad Mayet sought one of the quilts by Gee’s Bend artist Loretta Pettway, from the show “Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art”.

With Lorenzo Legarda Leviste and Fahad Mayet’s move, censorship started.  Shortly after the cancellation came to light on February 6, Leviste and Mayet spoke to the curators of “Unravel” to explain their choice to cancel the lecture. They also recently made their whole email exchange with the institution available online upon the removal of the quilts. Last month, the Barbican abandoned its arrangement to present a talk with the London Review of Books (LRB).

This happened after learning the theme of the event and realising it will be about Israel’s current conflict in Gaza. In a statement issued on February 14, the Barbican spoke about this event. The centre stated the LRB had hastily publicised the centre as the location for the talk series before it was properly agreed upon. It said that as a result, it found itself unable to provide the topic with the “dedicated and thoughtful care” that the Barbican deemed necessary.

The LRB rejected this assertion, stating that the event was called off “at a late stage”. “We reject the Barbican cloaking its violent suppression of speech with the gloopy language of -‘care'”, the lenders stated, in reference to the center’s public statement.

Collectors Stated Their Reasons for Pulling Art

The LRB also said: “The vagueness of this language guarantees that any artwork, performance or public conversation at the Barbican can arbitrarily shut down for its ‘sensitive’ subject matter. Also, because the institution cannot afford enough ‘care’. We refuse to accept this”. The collectors further stated the reasons for their decision to pull the quilts from “Unravel”.

They said the spirit of the artists presented in the display. They also added how many of the artists felt obligated to weave, sew, and stitch. This was their response to repressive regimes and systems of power. The Barbican’s curators of “Unravel” posted a sign beside the now-empty stand where Pettway’s two quilts were originally installed, explaining their absence. “We respect the lenders’ decision”, they wrote.

In their online statement, Leviste and Mayet also brought attention to an incident last year where the radio host Elias Anastas was asked to “avoid talking about free Palestine at length… just to further safeguard the audience”. His interviewer Nihal El Aasar was also advised to “steer clear of thorny issues”, according to the Guardian. Last November, the Barbican hosted the London Palestine Film Festival 2023.