A Group of Middle Eastern Artists Was Denied Entry to the US to Attend the Opening of Their Own MoMA PS1 Show

This weekend, MoMA PS1 in New York opened “Theater of Operations: The Gulf Wars,
1991–2011,” a sprawling group exhibition of 250-plus works that
examine the toll of American conflicts in the Middle East.

Of the roughly 80 artists and collectives featured in the show,
around 30 hail from Iraq, while dozens of others come from Kuwait,
Lebanon, and countries in the surrounding region.

And some of those artists who are still based in Middle East
were prevented from traveling to the US for the show’s opening.

At least four artists tried to get travel visas to make the
trip, but were denied either because of the travel ban imposed by
President Trump, or because of other diplomatic issues, the museum
tells Artnet News. That number could have been much higher: other
artists didn’t even attempt to apply for a visa, knowing what the
outcome could be.

“More would have wanted to come, but knew there was no way,”
says one of the show’s curators, Ruba Katrib, noting the irony.
“Artwork is able to travel more easily in some cases than the
artists themselves.”

Young Baghdadi artist Ali Eyal wanted to travel for the opening
but couldn’t. Afifa Aleiby, an Iraqi painter currently based in the
Netherlands, applied for a visa but was denied. Another artist who
the curator chose not to name did make it to the opening, but was
questioned upon arrival into the US.

Katrib says that while many of the show’s artists are Iraqi,
only a handful actually live in the country today. The show caps
its scope in 2011, with the withdrawal of US forces from Baghdad
and the effective end of the Iraq War. But the curator notes that
the violence has continued.

“It’s important to recognize the recent history of this region,
but also to remember that the conflict has not disappeared,” she
says.

The show also includes works by Dia al-Azzawi, Thuraya
al-Baqsami, Harun Farocki, Shakir Hassan, Mona Hatoum, Judith Joy
Ross, Hanaa Malallah, Susan Meiselas, Monira Al Qadiri, and Nuha
al-Radi.

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to the US to Attend the Opening of Their Own MoMA PS1 Show
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