ARTISTS AND ARTS ORGANIZATIONS URGE TRUMP TO OVERTURN IMMIGRATION BAN

The contemporary art world is uniting against President Donald Trump’s executive order banning citizens from Muslim-majority countries from traveling to the United States. After the order went into effect on January 27, people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen were denied entry and will not be allowed to visit America for one hundred and twenty days. Syrian refugees are being denied indefinitely. Nearly one hundred cultural figures and institutions have signed an open letter demanding that the “unjust” ban be overturned.

The letter states: “In addition to the humanitarian crisis exacerbated by these discriminatory measures, our fellow colleagues are being profiled based on race and/or religion. Should our colleagues have to leave the United States for any reason, they must not fear being denied return; nor should they have to cancel exhibitions or research because they cannot enter this country. Our field is dependent upon international collaboration and cross-cultural exchange, and these cross-border and cross-cultural collaborations benefit the general public; the ban thus affects all of us.”

Signatories include artists, critics, curators, galleries, museums, and collectors. Barbara Kruger, Laura Owens, Louise Lawler, Danh Vō, and Lawrence Weiner are among the artists who have added their names to the letter. Whole organizations have signed as well, including the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art; Marian Goodman Gallery, New York; and Independent Curators International.