Artist Nicholas Galanin said he pulled out of a symposium related to a Smithsonian American Art Museum exhibition, claiming that he was asked not to record the event or share footage of it on social media.
That show, “The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture,” was one of the exhibitions singled out by Donald Trump in an executive order earlier this year about the Smithsonian’s museums. He claimed those institutions had “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology.”
The exhibition itself, Trump wrote, “promotes the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct.”
Earlier year, in ARTnews, Shantay Robinson wrote that the show explores “how sculpture, created by diverse artists, tells an inclusive story of America.” It features works dating from 1792 to 2023 and pays specific mind to race, with one section titled “Classical and the Myth of the White Ideal.”
Galanin 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’s website, also features speakers such as curator Hamza Walker, artists Titus Kaphar and Miguel Luciano, and critic Aruna D’Souza, according to a schedule for the event that was obtained by ARTnews.
“The 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,” Galanin wrote on Instagram.
“I 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,” he continued, writing that he asked for the text to be read during his intended slot on Saturday.
A Smithsonian American Art Museum spokesperson denied any censorship. “Because not all participants consented to being recorded, the decision was made not to document in this manner, including on social media,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to ARTnews.
The museum spokesperson added, “We 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.”
Galanin directed ARTnews to his Instagram post.
Galanin, whose 2016 work The Imaginary Indian (Totem Pole) figures in “The Shape of Power,” has previously extolled the values of the Smithsonian and others like it.
Speaking to the New York Times in March shortly after Trump’s executive order, he said, “Museums, 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.”
