Friday, June 20, 2008
News / Chicagoland Spertus caves
Posted by Deanna Isaacs on Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 11:36 AM
The Spertus Museum announced today that its controversial mapping exhibit, Imaginary Coordinates, originally scheduled to run through September 7, will close "immediately."
The exhibit, which opened May 2, put antique maps alongside the work of contemporary Palestinian and Israeli artists, in an attempt to "understand the limits of mapping." According to a Spertus statement, it drew criticism for conveying "anti-Israel points of view."
It was shut down once before this, ostensibly due to maintenance issues; when it reopened a week later, it had been rearranged and was accessible only on guided tours.
Apparently that didn't satisfy the exhibition's critics. In today's announcement, Howard A. Sulkin, president of the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, which includes the museum, said "When you take risks, you learn things. . . . This exhibition caused pain for members of our audience. . . . As we grow into our new space [which opened last fall], we are still learning how to balance our new programming and new audiences with sensitivity to our core constituents."
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You got that one right: Pussies.
Unfortunately, I was waiting until July to see the Spertus exhibit. Now, I can only comment in generalities: Spertus is an educational institution and not only has the right, but the responsibility, to exhibit ideas, such as "Imaginary Coordinates". History and art can be uncomfortable and sometimes painful, but also reveals perspectives on truth. I am sorry to know the exhibit was closed.
The Jewish community in America has flourished as nowhere else in the world (save Israel) because of free speech and freedom of expression. How shameful that a vocal (and presumably monied) minority have silenced this exhibit, with all its potential to inspire open and productive debate. All this reinforces the old adage-- the beauty of free speech is that it allows you to know who the shmucks are.
The removal of the exhibit of antique maps alongside contemporary works of modern Palestinian and Israeli artists is an unfortunate loss for the people of Chicago and a wake up call for all of us to support free speech. I encourage the Spertus Museum to offer the exhibits to other museums in the Chicago area and in other areas of the country and the world. I hope that the media will cover the exhibit when it appears elsewhere.
Censorship has never been part of Judaism. In fact the Talmudic Rabbinic tradition went to great lengths to record every rabbis' opinion, even minority views, for the 1000 years it took to write the Talmud. Rarely has Judaism believed in censorship. We have the sad case of Spinoza and DeCosta being excommunicated for their views by the Amsterdam Jewish Community. But these are the rare exceptions, and not the rule of Judaism. This is just very sad, not-Jewish, and is the type of thing one would expect in regimes that Jews traditionally fight against.
how cynical of Spertus to cave to the big guns...how awful to be reminded yet again that money & influence are allowed to shape and influence public perceptions & opinions...my heart goes out to the brave curator and artists whose voices are unfortunately being silenced, effectively being shouted down. sad, sad, sad...
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