From the Floor

Wichita State University has announced that the Emily Jacir exhibition scheduled to run January 20 - March 6, 2005, at the Ulrich Museum of Art will do so without any conditions.

Elizabeth King, Vice President for University Advancement, released the following statement late this afternoon:

Wichita State University is aware of the discussion generated by the scheduled exhibition of work by artist Emily Jacir at the Ulrich Museum of Art. The University is committed to going forward with the exhibition without conditions or limitations that could be considered to compromise the integrity of Ms. Jacir's work as an artist. The University appreciates the widespread interest in the artist and the exhibition.

Judy Press, Executive Director of the Mid-Kansas Jewish Federation, said yesterday that members of her group had seen images of Jacir's works on the Internet and had objected to what they perceived to be the single-sidedness of the exhibition. "The work focuses on the inability of Palestinians to travel freely, and it blames Israel for that inability. But it does not explain why Israel must take these measures," Press said.

The Federation had asked the University to display additional information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to balance the presentation. "We made a request to the University, and we are under the impression at this point that this was not an appropriate request," Press said. "We did not realize that this was considered inappropriate or infringing on the artist's rights. We need to not ask for that if it is not appropriate."

David Butler, Director of the Ulrich Museum, said this afternoon, "I'm relieved that we are doing the right thing, and I am happy this has been resolved. I have not spoken with Emily yet, but I hope she will be pleased as well."

Emily Jacir was traveling this afternoon and was not available for comment.

[See the original NEWSgrist post for more information.]