The Museum of Modern Art in New York is the latest institution to voice its opposition against President Trump’s immigration ban. The executive order made by President Trump bans travel and rescinds visas for citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations. The order was received with mass protests and chaos as people were held at airports, in legal limbo.
Now the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has joined in the protests, by showcasing artworks commissioned by artists who are subjected to the ban. MoMA has reconfigured their permanent galleries collection to show work from artists from Iran, Iraq and Sudan – all of whom are impacted by the ban.
The works will be showcased for several months, alongside an explanation from the Museum as to the move “This work is by an artist from a nation whose citizens are being denied entry into the United States, according to a presidential executive order issued on January 27, 2017. This is one of several such artworks from the Museum’s collection installed throughout the fifth-floor galleries to affirm the ideals of welcome and freedom as vital to this Museum, as they are to the United States.”
The wider arts community has been extremely vocal in its opposition to the immigration ban, with many artists joining in protests across the nation. According to the New York Times, the decision will also have an negative effect on arts journalism, as the art correspondent for Le Monde newspaper, Roxana Azimi, is no longer able to enter the United States due to her Iranian background.
The immigration ban itself is still the subject of legal debate, with a Federal judge in Washington halting enforcement of the executive order.
