'I was in shock': DC gallery pulls exhibits of Black and LGBTQ+ artists amid Trump DEI crackdown

[Eugene]

Earlier DU thread: Art Museum of Americas cancels shows of Black, LGBTQ artists following Trump orders

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Source: The Guardian

‘I was in shock’: DC gallery pulls exhibits of Black and LGBTQ+ artists amid Trump DEI crackdown

Art Museum of the Americas’ abrupt cancellation after anti-diversity order is ‘how fascism unfolds’, curator says

David Smith in Washington
Sat 1 Mar 2025 12.00 GMT
Last modified on Sat 1 Mar 2025 12.03 GMT

A Washington DC art gallery has abruptly cancelled two exhibitions featuring Black and LGBTQ+ artists, prompting accusations that it has caved in to Donald Trump’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes.

The Art Museum of the Americas, run by the Organization of American States (OAS), was due to present the shows Nature’s Wild with Andil Gosine and Before the Americas in March.

The decision to pull the exhibits coincided with an executive order issued by the Trump administration directing a review of relationships with international organisations that receive US funding. To Gosine, it is an alarming example of pre-emptive capitulation – obeying in advance.

“There’s a long history of the arts being attacked by conservative forces,” the 51-year-old Canadian artist and curator told the Guardian. “What I’m disappointed about with the OAS is that this is not Trump’s action; this is anticipating. This for me is even scarier because it feels like we have this closeup view to how fascism unfolds.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/01/art-museum-of-americas-exhibit-trump-dei

[wolfie001]

1. Hmmmmm?

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Free Speech but you're not allowed to talk about certain things.

This type of nonsense will sanitize the arts. It's not just that you aren't allowed to mention certain subjects, it's also that you are not allowed to appear to mention certain subjects. So you plan what you say in advance, then filter it to meet the censorship, even though your reference to certain subject may be inadvertent, unintended, just in passing, or even using just a word that fits your construct that has nothing to do with the prohibited subject. Sanitized art. Just like the Nazis did.