Museum will show Arab-Canadian art
Reverses earlier decision not to show

Friday, September 28, 2001

PM Right to Blast Museum's Plans

Saskatoon StarPhoenix, (Canada) Editorial

In the face of well-deserved rebukes from politicians, artists and citizens whose moral compass remained true at this time of stress, Canadian Museum of Civilization officials on Friday hastily reversed a bone-headed decision to delay an exhibit by 26 Arab-Canadian artists. It's impossible to comprehend the thinking behind the move by museum director Victor Rabinovitch and his board to try to put off until spring 2002 an exhibit that has been five years in the making and was scheduled to open Oct. 19. Their proffered excuse -- that museum curators wanted to add "context" to the works, given the recent terrorist strikes against U.S. cities -- was pathetically lame at best.

As Prime Minister Jean Chretien said of the exhibit, amid a rare display of unanimous agreement on an issue by MPs of all parties in the Commons: "It was the wrong decision that was made ... If it is good for March 2002, it is good for October 2001." No matter how one looks at it, Rabinovitch and the museum board laid to waste the concept of freedom of expression, which surely must remain among the dearest tenets held by those in their position. Not only that. Their gutless move to postpone a show by a group of artists who share nothing in common with the heinous terrorists but the region of their birth went against everything that Chretien and U.S. President George Bush had stressed since the start of the crisis. Little wonder that Chretien, who made time to attend a mosque in the wake of the beating of an Arabic teenager in Ottawa to admit that he "was ashamed as prime minister" that such a moronic "retaliation" act would happen in Canada, was so uncharacteristically decisive in calling Rabinovitch and the museum to task. In essence, their decision pandered to the politics of fear. Heritage Minister Sheila Copps said: "It certainly makes no sense, when we are trying to build bridges, to send a message that seems to burn them."

© Copyright 2001 Saskatoon StarPhoenix

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