{"id":151976,"date":"2025-09-12T17:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T17:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/151976\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T17:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T17:54:09","slug":"nicholas-galanin-pulls-out-of-smithsonian-event-claiming-censorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/151976\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicholas Galanin Pulls Out of Smithsonian Event, Claiming Censorship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tArtist Nicholas Galanin<\/a> said he pulled out of a symposium related to a Smithsonian American Art Museum<\/a> exhibition, claiming that he was asked not to record the event or share footage of it on social media.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat show, \u201cThe Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture,\u201d was one of the exhibitions singled out by Donald Trump in an executive order<\/a> earlier this year about the Smithsonian\u2019s museums. He claimed those institutions had \u201ccome under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe exhibition itself, Trump wrote, \u201cpromotes the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\n\tEarlier this year, in ARTnews, Shantay Robinson wrote<\/a> that the show explores \u201chow sculpture, created by diverse artists, tells an inclusive story of America.\u201d It features works dating from 1792 to 2023 and pays specific mind to race, with one section titled \u201cClassical and the Myth of the White Ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGalanin was to speak at the Smithsonian American Art Museum on Saturday as part of a two-day symposium that begins today. The symposium, which is not publicly listed on the Smithsonian\u2019s website, also features speakers such as curator Hamza Walker, artists Titus Kaphar and Miguel Luciano, and critic Aruna D\u2019Souza, according to a schedule for the event that was obtained by ARTnews.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe decision to make the symposium a private event with a curated guest list and request that we not record or share it on social media effectively censors those of us who would be participating,\u201d Galanin wrote on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI appreciate that the curators and organizers of the exhibition and symposium have been put into a challenging position due to the government review of the Smithsonian and its programming, attempting to silence and erase any content not approved of by the current administration,\u201d he continued, writing that he asked for the text to be read during his intended slot on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\n\tA Smithsonian American Art Museum spokesperson denied any censorship. \u201cBecause not all participants consented to being recorded, the decision was made not to document in this manner, including on social media,\u201d the spokesperson wrote in an email to ARTnews.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe museum spokesperson added, \u201cWe are disappointed that Nicholas Galanin will not participate in the symposium but respect his decision and thank him for his important contributions to this groundbreaking exhibition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGalanin directed ARTnews to his Instagram post.<\/p>\n

\n\tGalanin, whose 2016 work The Imaginary Indian (Totem Pole) figures in \u201cThe Shape of Power,\u201d has previously extolled the values of the Smithsonian and others like it.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking to the New York Times<\/a> in March shortly after Trump\u2019s executive order, he said, \u201cMuseums, monuments, and public institutions should be spaces where these stories are held with care, not suppressed for political convenience. When we interrogate systems of power and challenge historical narratives that center whiteness and colonial dominance, we do not divide, we restore balance.\u201d<\/p>\n