Two museums in the United States have removed paintings and covered other works of art with a black fabric to protest President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban against immigrants. Trump has issued an executive order prohibiting the travel to the U.S. of immigrants from seven countries with mostly Muslim populations.
Officials at the Davis Museum located at Boston's Wellesley College said their decision to remove or cover the paintings of immigrant artists aims to highlight the contributions made by foreigners. The protest started on Feb. 16 and ending on Feb. 21.
A total of 120 artworks including sculptures in wood and bronze, paintings, modern and contemporary pieces as well as ceremonial masks from Africa, the Americas and Europe, are among those that have been removed or covered, according to Fox News. The protest action is bound to create an impact considering that around 80 percent of the objects in the galleries were donated by Polish immigrants who went to the U.S. after World War II.
"We're hoping to articulate the contributions of immigrants here at Davis in response to the anxiety this executive order has raised and continues to raise," Davis Museum director Lisa Fischman said. "We thought a lot about works that we have, and how they came to be here."
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City has also highlighted the artistic contributions of immigrants by redesigning its permanent galleries in the fifth floor and filling it up with artworks from Sudan, Iraq and Iran. These countries are among the seven countries included in Trump's travel ban against immigrants.
Through the different protests, the museum officials are telling Trump about how the great contribution of immigrants contributed to the development of U.S. culture, as per The Hill. They are hoping that many Americans, including Trump, will realize that America would not be the great nation it has become without the contribution of the immigrants. Beginning President's Day on Feb. 20, the museum will remove a painting of George Washington, as it was done by Swedish-born immigrant Adolf Ulrik Wertmuller.
Davis Museum Senior Curator of Collections Claire Whitner said the removal of the artworks by immigrants will affect all the galleries holding permanent collections, according to the Independent. The Association of Art Museum Directors released a statement indicating its concern about Trump's order as it will put academia and the arts in jeopardy.
