Dozens of institutions, galleries, artists, critics, and curators have signed a petition against President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for a temporary ban on entry to the US from citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries.
Among those who have added their names are museums like the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, galleries including Marian Goodman, curators and museum leaders including Stefan Kalmár, Nancy Spector, and Philip Tinari, and artists like Carol Bove, Mariam Ghani, Walid Raad, Anri Sala, and Lawrence Weiner.
The move complements an existing petition by academics. Art schools have spoken out forcefully against the ban, as have prominent individuals in the art world, including Getty President James Cuno.
The full text of the petition and list of signatories at publication time follows:
We the undersigned individuals of the international contemporary art field call for the immediate and total overturning of the Executive Order signed by the 45th President of the United States on January 27, 2017, banning entry to any non-US citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen; this encompasses the 90-day suspension of entry by people of those countries (which includes dual nationals), the 120-day suspension of entry by refugees, and the indefinite suspension of entry for Syrian refugees.
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.
The entirety of the Executive Order is unjust and must be overturned.
Signatories (in random order):
Barbara Kruger, artist, New York
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Helen Molesworth, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Paula Katz, Executive Director, Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, Indianapolis
Douglas Crimp, Professor of Art History, University of Rochester
Danh Vo, artist, Mexico City
Joan Jonas, artist, New York
Eungie Joo, Artistic Director, 5th Anyang Public Art Project, Korea
Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Marian Goodman, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Negar Azimi, critic/editor, Bidoun, New York
Susanne Ghez, curator, Chicago
Adrián Villar Rojas, artist, Rosario, Argentina
Nancy Spector, curator, New York City
Nairy Baghramian, artist, Berlin
Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris
Chantal Crousel, Chantal Crousel Gallery, Paris
Niklas Svennung, Chantal Crousel Gallery, Paris
Lawrence Weiner, artist, New York
Andy Stillpass, collector, Cincinnati
Kathy Halbreich, Associate Director and Laurenz Foundation Curator, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Laura Owens, artist, Los Angeles
Massimiliano Gioni, curator, New York
Joanne Heyler, Founding Director, The Broad, Los Angeles
Sarah Loyer, Assistant Curator, The Broad, Los Angeles
Rene Gabri, artist, New York
Ken Lum, artist, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Walid Raad, artist, New York
Stefan Kalmár, Director, ICA, London
Wade Guyton, artist, New York
Beatrix Ruf, Director, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Liam Gillick, artist, New York
Caroline Bourgeois, curator, Paris
Jessica Morgan, Director, Dia Art Foundation, New York
Louise Lawler, artist, New York
Carol Bove, artist, New York
Philip Tinari, critic/curator, Director, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing
Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, curator, New York
Jörg Heiser, Director Institute for Art in Context, University of the Arts, Berlin/Editor at large, Frieze magazine, Berlin
Eleanor Cayre, Director, Cayre Art Group, New York
Petzel Gallery, New York
Friedrich Petzel, Petzel Gallery, New York
Amy Sillman, artist, Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main
Rob Pruitt, artist
Shirana Shahbazi, artist, Zurich
Dara Birnbaum, artist, New York
Daniel Birnbaum, Director, Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Rachel Harrison, artist, New York
Andrew Weiner, Assistant Professor of Art Theory and Criticism, Steinhardt, New York
Kristina Lee Podesva, artist, Bruna Press, Bellingham, WA
Pierre Huyghe, artist, Brooklyn
Linda Yablonsky, critic, New York
Carol Greene, New York
Cheryl Donegan, artist, New York
Kate Fowle, Chief Curator Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow/Director at Large, Independent Curators International, New York
David Joselit, Distinguished Professor, PhD Program in Art History, The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York
Brent Sikkema, Owner, Sikkema Jenkins Gallery, New York City
Francisco-Fernando Granados, artist/Assistant Professor, OCAD University, Toronto
Kara Walker, artist, New York
Anthony Elms, Chief Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Wendy Vogel, critic and independent curator, Brooklyn
Catherine Opie, artist, UCLA, Los Angeles
Johanna Burton, curator/critic, New York
Vincent Fecteau, artist, San Francisco
Jens Hoffmann, curator/writer, New York
Marta Kuzma, Dean, Yale School of Art, New Haven
Paul Chan and Badlands Unlimited, New York
Jerome Bel, choreographer, Paris
Alhena Katsof, curator, New York
Kenneth Goldsmith and UbuWeb, New York
Seth Price, artist, New York
Anri Sala, artist, Berlin
Trisha Donnelly, artist, New York
Gavin Brown, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York
Julie Ault, artist, New York
Amy Zion, curator and critic, New York
Tacita Dean, artist, Berlin
Mariam Ghani, artist, New York
Dan Fox, writer, Co-editor, Frieze magazine, New York
George Baker, Professor, Department of Art History, UCLA, Los Angeles
Bettina Funcke, writer/editor, New York
Achim Hochdörfer, Director, Collection Brandhorst, Munich
Gerard Byrne, artist, Dublin
Jan Tumlir, critic, Los Angeles
Amanda Sharp, Frieze, London
Mark Dion, artist, New York
Brian Holmes, critic, Paris
Peter Eleey, curator, New York
Sung Hwan Kim, artist, Berlin
Kelley Walker, artist, New York