Caroline Framke
Resistance to the Trump administration has taken the form of rallies, speeches, fundraisers, boycotts, fervent Facebook posts, a sea of knitted pink hats. It’s been loud, determinedly visible, and often furious.
So if you walk through the stark halls of New York City’s
Museum of Modern Art, you might not immediately peg it as a site of
fiery protest. But thanks to some pointed tweaks to the museum’s most
iconic exhibit — the 1880s–1950s collection — that’s exactly what the
museum has become.
As the New York Times
reported last week, MoMA has quietly taken down several Western works
by artists like Matisse and Picasso in favor of pieces from those like
British-Iraqi painter Zaha Hadid and Sudanese artist Ibrahim el-Salahi —
in other words, artists from the countries included under President Trump’s recent attempts to crack down on immigration via executive order.
And as the order continues to be debated and restrained in court,
MoMA confirmed to Vox that “there is no scheduled end date” for this
display. In fact, said MoMA director Margaret Doyle, they “expect more
works from the banned countries to be installed.”
