(Left) Samia Halaby, Six Golden Heroes, 2021 & (Right) Alia Farid, Piquete en el Capitolo, 2023
UPDATE 2/02/2024: Success! NCAC has received reports that the artwork by Alia Farid, Piquete en el capitolio, has been returned to the original location selected by the exhibition’s curators–an implicit admission that MSU was wrong to relocate the work in the first place. While this does not make up for MSU’s cancellation of the opening celebration, or the suppression of political views from the solo exhibition of Samia Halaby, NCAC applauds this decision.
In a troubling series of events at Michigan State University’s Broad Art Museum, multiple censorship reports have raised serious concerns about the suppression of artistic freedom. Today, the National Coalition Against Censorship, alongside the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, ACLU of Michigan, and PEN America, expressed their alarm in a formal letter to Michigan State University President Kevin M. Guskiewicz. Together, the organizations call for MSU to adopt transparent arts programming policies that protect the rights of artists and curators, ensuring that political and controversial works can be explored without fear of censorship or discrimination.
Read NCAC’s full letter to Michigan State University here: Click here for a full-screen view: