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Opening 11 May to 8 June 2024

Artists: Ali Kazak Poster Collection (various artists), Nicole Barakat, Simon Blau, Narelle Jubelin, Chips Mackinolty, Mparntwe for Falastin, James Nguyen, Sofia Sabbagh, Mahmoud Salameh, Treasures of Palestine (Alissar Chidiac and Karin Vesk) and Alex Gawronski & Mitch Cumming

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Forms of Censorship queries an unhealthy culture of self-censorship developing in the arts. In the current crisis, some artists have found themselves criticised, threatened or even silenced for showing support for the Palestinian people. Is there a historical and increasingly pathological pattern in play here?

The 670-kilometre Apartheid Wall is a concrete leitmotif for 75 years of Israeli military occupation of Palestine. After Hamas’ indefensible attack on Israeli civilians on 7 October 2023, Israel’s incommensurate revenge has butchered many more and destroyed the very landscape that sustains life.[1] In January, the International Court of Justice called Israel’s carnage in Gaza and blockade of food, water and medicines “plausible genocide.” Famine has set in. The Israeli government has not met the demand of the ICJ and world leaders to “take all measures within its power” to prevent genocide. Instead, it has continued to escalate its killings to include even approved humanitarian workers.

In times of atrocity art and reporting are crucial to evidence, to remember and assert moral witness. To paraphrase Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, who will speak for those who are silenced? Reporters often risk their lives to tell the story, and from the first day of the bombing, the Israel Defence Force (IDF) has targeted media outlets and journalists, cultural centres and artists and universities and writers.[2]

Taking up the flame on their behalf are Palestinian-Australian artists Mahmoud Salameh’s black and white drawings and Sofia Sabbagh’s delicate drawings document dynamic weekly protests in Naarm/Melbourne. Nicole Barakat’s embroidered banners and Yul Scarf’s simple tracery of the keffiyeh design fly high. Lacking direct access to politicians and public institutions, artists use their creative skills as activists and/or join the ongoing weekend protest marches to express solidarity and pressure rogue states from without. Scarf’s keen eye on focuses on Australia’s shady role in enabling genocide and the banner-text calls out to “Close Pine Gap”, the late-Cold War US spy base near Mparntwe/Alice Springs.

Meanwhile our cultural institutions respond to the daily carnage with hand-wringing self-censorship that prevents them from addressing (any) political conflict. Dialogues enabled by Writers Festivals are the only cultural formation emerging with credit. In a world of increasing authoritarian instability, we need our funded arts organisations to be independent and boldly assert human rights.