The International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art (CIMAM) has issued a statement in support of Walid Raad, Andrew Ross and Ashok Sukumaran, who were all denied entry to the UAE. CIMAM is an organisation of over 400 museum representatives from 63 countries, and is the author of among other guidelines, a code of ethics for museums.
Their statement in full:
CIMAM supports Walid Raad, Andrew Ross and Ashok Sukumaran after the recent ban on their entry to the UAE
In recent weeks, The UAE authorities have refused visas to or denied entry and deported a number of artists and academics including Andrew Ross and Ashok Sukumaran. The reason seems to be the involvement of the individuals concerned with the Gulf Labor campaign to improve the working conditions of migrants at construction sites for the new cultural infrastructure at Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. The latest to suffer this humiliation is the Lebanese artist Walid Raad. He has written an open letter describing his treatment and asking questions of the European and North American museums and universities who are supporting the new museums in the UAE and their sponsors. This letter is attached below.
CIMAM would like to express its solidarity with Walid Raad, Andrew Ross and Ashok Sukumaran and to encourage the museum institutions involved to respond to his letter and condemn the actions undertaken by the UAE.
→ Statement from Walid Raad
→ Statement from Ashok Sukumaran
→ gulflabour.org
More reporting:
CIMAM pressures Guggenheim and Louvre to respond