Museum Of Modern Arts Showcases Muslim Artists’ Works As Protest To President Donald Trump’s Travel Ban

As a showcase of their stand against U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, the Museum of Modern Arts (MoMA) in New York recently rehung artworks by artists from some of the countries subjected to the new administration’s travel ban. On Thursday night, seven works from countries such as Sudan, Iraq and Iran were displayed at the Museum of Modern Arts' fifth floor in place of works from Western artists.

As reported by the New York Times, some of the works displayed at the Museum of Modern Arts were from Ibrahim el-Salahi, a painter from Sudan, Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid and Los Angeles-based Iranian artist Tala Madani. The artists’ works replaced previously displayed art done by Picasso, Matisse and Picabia, among others. The report also notes that besides each artwork is a text that reads: “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 Jan. 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.”

According to Time Warner Cable’s NY1, the Museum of Modern Arts plans to add more works when newly reinstalled galleries open. As of this writing, there has not been an official end date announced for the impromptu exhibit. As pointed out by the New York Times, other artists in the exhibit at the Museum of Modern Arts include painter Marcos Grigorian, photographer Shirana Shahbazi, Iran-born American artist Siah Armajani, sculptor Parviz Tanavoli and draftsman Charles Hossein Zenderoudi. The Museum of Modern Arts' unplanned exhibition is seen as one of the strongest protests by a major cultural institution against President Donald Trump’s travel ban on Muslim-majority countries.

On Friday, Federal Judge James Robart orally granted a temporary restraining order on President Donald Trump’s travel ban. Shortly after, a written order was issued, which led to Customs and Border Protection alerting airlines that there would be a reinstatement of visas from the banned countries. As of this writing, the Trump administration has not commented on the Museum of Modern Arts' exhibit.

TagsDonald Trump, donald trump muslim ban, trump travel ban, Museum of Modern Arts, Muslim Ban