{"id":255866,"date":"2025-05-25T03:26:39","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T03:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/art\/pro-palestine-protests-disrupt-whitney-free-friday-event\/"},"modified":"2025-05-25T03:26:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T03:26:39","slug":"pro-palestine-protests-disrupt-whitney-free-friday-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866","title":{"rendered":"Pro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Whitney Free Friday Event"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

\n\tThe lobby of the Whitney Museum in New York became the site of a protest by arts and culture workers on Friday (May 23) following the institution\u2019s recent cancellation of a pro-Palestine<\/a>\u00a0performance.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe protest, which was announced on Instagram by the group Writers Against the War on Gaza, began around 8 p.m. during the Whitney\u2019s \u201cFree Friday Night\u201d event, which offers a pay-what you-wish admission between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. From the mezzanine level, protestors quietly unfurled a Palestinian flag and a banner reading \u201cCreativity Does Not Have to Rely on Death.\u201d On the ground floor, activists distributed brochures with text printed in the Whitney\u2019s house font that demanded \u201cthe removal of board members tied to genocide, militarism and apartheid,\u201d as well as an end to \u201cinstitutional artwashing, censorship, surveillance and policing of artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\t\tRelated Articles<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n

\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Whitney<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tMuseum security briefly barred entry to the museum and its galleries. Meanwhile, activists formed a circle in the lobby and called out Whitney leadership for its cancellation of\u00a0No Aesthetics Outside My Freedom: Mourning, Militancy, and Performance<\/em>, a piece by artists Fadl Fakhouri, Noel Maghathe, and Fargo Tbakh, on May 12, two days before it was set to take place as part the programming for an exhibition organized by the Whitney\u2019s Independent Study Program.<\/p>\n

\n\tSince the cancellation of No Aesthetics<\/em>, scrutiny has also been paid to the demotion of Gregg Bordowitz, an artist who formerly served as director of the ISP. According to Artnet News<\/em>, Bordowitz was demoted in February, but it remains unclear why he was removed to director-at-large. He has publicly spoken out against the cancellation of the performance, calling it an \u201cintrusion\u201d by the Whitney.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe performance was described by those involved as an invitation to mourn the roughly 50,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, and those who have suffered over the decades of Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank. During\u00a0the hour and half-long duration of No Aesthetics<\/em>, performers were to interpret \u201cscores\u201d written by Natalie Diaz, Christina Sharpe, and Brandon Shimoda\u00a0that conveyed the themes of grief, endurance, and defiance.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs confirmed to ARTnews<\/em> by a Whitney spokesperson, the performance was canceled after museum leadership viewed a recording of the work\u2019s initial presentation at the Poetry Project, where the piece was staged in collaboration with\u00a0Jewish Currents<\/em>. That iteration opened with an address made by one of the performers to attendees: \u201cYou may only remain in this audience if you love Palestinians wholly and completely, you may only remain if you love us while we are alive and when we are dead, when we are fighting for survival, dignity, land, return, real and sustainable life using any and all methods available to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe address included the request that any attendees leave the room if they \u201cbelieve in Israel in any incarnation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a prior statement to\u00a0ARTnews<\/em>, the Whitney said that the work \u201cvalorized specific acts of violence and imagery of violence,\u201d and that there was \u201cno instance when we would find it acceptable to single out members of our community based on their belief system and ask them to leave an exhibition or performance.\u201d Sara Nadal-Melsi\u00f3, associate director of the ISP, said the introduction would not have been included in the version of the performance.<\/p>\n

\n\tLast night, one demonstrator read the performance\u2019s introduction before those assembled. The demonstration and its materials also called out Whitney board members Nancy Carrington Crown, Leonard A. Lauder, and Laurie M. Tisch, all powerful patrons of the arts in New York, for their various familial and financial ties to Israel. Banners brandished on Friday took particular aim at Crown, whose family is a major shareholder in General Dynamics, an\u00a0arms manufacturer that has been a frequent subject of criticism from activists for its dealings with Israel.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe demonstration peacefully departed the museum lobby around 9 p.m. \u201cThis will not be the last time you see us,\u201d an activist called out to the lobby before that. \u201cKeep your eyes open because the community sees you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpokespersons for the Whitney and the ISP did not respond to requests for comment on last night\u2019s protest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The lobby of the Whitney Museum in New York became the site of a protest by arts and culture workers on Friday (May 23) following the institution\u2019s recent cancellation of a pro-Palestine\u00a0performance. The protest, which was announced on Instagram by the group Writers Against the War on Gaza, began around 8 p.m. during the Whitney\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":255867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[16557,9252,807,6989,5109,65638,30590,32436,92687],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-255866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-disrupt","tag-event","tag-free","tag-friday","tag-palestine","tag-propalestine","tag-protests","tag-whitney","tag-whitney-museum-of-american-art"],"yoast_head":"\nPro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Whitney Free Friday Event - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Whitney Free Friday Event - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The lobby of the Whitney Museum in New York became the site of a protest by arts and culture workers on Friday (May 23) following the institution\u2019s recent cancellation of a pro-Palestine\u00a0performance. The protest, which was announced on Instagram by the group Writers Against the War on Gaza, began around 8 p.m. during the Whitney\u2019s […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-25T03:26:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/protest-copy.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"755\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Pro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Whitney Free Friday Event\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-25T03:26:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866\"},\"wordCount\":698,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/protest-copy.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Disrupt\",\"event\",\"Free\",\"Friday\",\"palestine\",\"ProPalestine\",\"Protests\",\"Whitney\",\"Whitney Museum of American Art\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Art\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866\",\"name\":\"Pro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Whitney Free Friday Event - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/protest-copy.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-25T03:26:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/protest-copy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/protest-copy.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":755},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Whitney Free Friday Event\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Whitney Free Friday Event - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Whitney Free Friday Event - Som2ny Network","og_description":"The lobby of the Whitney Museum in New York became the site of a protest by arts and culture workers on Friday (May 23) following the institution\u2019s recent cancellation of a pro-Palestine\u00a0performance. The protest, which was announced on Instagram by the group Writers Against the War on Gaza, began around 8 p.m. during the Whitney\u2019s […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-05-25T03:26:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":755,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/protest-copy.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Pro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Whitney Free Friday Event","datePublished":"2025-05-25T03:26:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866"},"wordCount":698,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/protest-copy.jpg","keywords":["Disrupt","event","Free","Friday","palestine","ProPalestine","Protests","Whitney","Whitney Museum of American Art"],"articleSection":["Art"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866","name":"Pro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Whitney Free Friday Event - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/protest-copy.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-25T03:26:39+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/protest-copy.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/protest-copy.jpg","width":1024,"height":755},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=255866#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Whitney Free Friday Event"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=255866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/255867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=255866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=255866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=255866"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=255866"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=255866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}