Palestinian artist ‘cancelled’ by US museum comes to Frieze Masters

Palestinian artist Samia Halaby is presenting a solo stand at the Sfeir-Semler Gallery booth in the Studio section of Frieze Masters, following the abrupt cancellation of her retrospective at Indiana University’s Eskenazi Museum of Art last year. The cancellation was reportedly triggered by staff concerns over Halaby’s social media posts expressing support for Palestinian causes during the Israel-Gaza war. A petition launched by her grandniece and trustee Madison Gordon garnered over 15,000 signatures calling for the show’s reinstatement. Halaby continues her activism, recently creating a fundraising poster for the Palestinian Youth Movement and participating in the Gaza Biennale in New York.