Nicholas Galanin, a multidisciplinary artist and member of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, announced on Instagram that he would no longer be participating in a symposium hosted by the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Saam). He cited government censorship as the reason for his decision.
The symposium is related to the exhibition The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture, one of the shows identified as “divisive” and “race-centred” by the Trump administration in a 27 March executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”. Trump wrote that the exhibition “promotes the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct”.
Galanin alleges that the symposium was made a private event with a “curated guest list” and that he was requested to “not record or share it on social media”. The artist’s 2016 work The Imaginary Indian (Totem Pole) is featured in the Saam exhibition.
In his post, Galanin included text that he asked to be shared with those in attendance at the symposium. “I come from a lineage that has endured attempted erasure through cultural, linguistic and spiritual silencing,” it reads. “My people, and all Indigenous peoples of this hemisphere have endured attempted erasure through legislative and physical violence. My work is only possible because of the ancestors who persisted and refused to be silenced; who continued to carry our culture and pass on that responsibility to me, to speak to a larger audience than was able to see or hear them.”
Galanin emphasises that he appreciates that “the curators and organisers of the exhibition and symposium have been put into a challenging position” by the Trump administration’s insistence on reviewing eight Smithsonian museums. But he says he believes that the clandestine context of the symposium “effectively censors” participants. “I will continue to speak through my work, and in spaces where artists are supported in speaking the past and present truth,” the text continues. “Our collective future is dependent on our capacity to envision and build just, equitable and sustainable communities.”
In a schedule of the event obtained by Alex Greenberger at Artnews, other speakers listed are the curator Hamza Walker, the artists Titus Kaphar and Miguel Luciano and the critic Aruna D’Souza. The two-day event began today (12 September).
In an email to Artnews, a Saam spokesperson denied Galanin’s claims of censorship, writing: “Because not all participants consented to being recorded, the decision was made not to document in this manner, including on social media.” The spokesperson also thanked Galanin for his “important contributions to this groundbreaking exhibition”.
