On May 11, 2015, I was denied entry to the UAE at Dubai airport. At Immigration in the Arrivals Terminal, UAE officials pulled me to the side and escorted me to a waiting room. Immigration officers came back two hours later to inform me that I was being denied entry for “security” reasons. I was escorted to the Departures Terminal, where other officials re-arranged my travel back to the US. My passport was confiscated for the 24 hours I was in the airport. An airport employee escorted me to my departure gate on May 12, and handed me my passport before I boarded my return flight. I was not harassed. I was not threatened. In fact, it was all a simple immigration formality. What stayed with me where the words spoken in Arabic “they are expelling him” and “for security reasons.” Three days later, these words continue to anger and sadden me.
Gulf Labor is an official participant at the 56th annual Venice Biennale, which runs until November 22nd. During our residency from July 29th to August 9th, our latest report about labor conditions on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE, will be made public as part of the “All the World’s Futures” exhibit curated by Okwui Enwezor.
UAE bars entry to Indian artist with long history in the region
This week, Mumbai-based artist Ashok Sukumaran was denied a UAE visa to travel as an invited speaker and moderator at the March Meeting, an annual gathering of artists in Sharjah. Sukumaran has a long history of artistic work and commitments in the region including at the Sharjah Biennials (2009, 2011, 2013) and at events including Art Dubai and several prior editions of the March Meetings. His visa application by the hosts of this year’s March Meeting, to be held mid-May, was denied three times.
Since about 10 am this morning, the dock outside the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice has been occupied by a number of art groups protesting the Guggenheim’s inaction in preventing worker abuse in Abu Dhabi. The venue has been closed for visitors. Live updates are on Hyperallergic. And #GuggOccupied
Tonight in Venice, the Guggenheim Foundation will host the official dinner for the USA pavilion, which it owns.
Update: Guggenheim has agreed to meet with protestors.
At noon today, a group of artists and activists including members of the Gulf Ultra Luxury Faction unfurled a large parachute and dropped thousands of On Kawara-influenced flyers marking May Day 2015, in the atrium of the Guggenheim Museum, while demanding to meet with a member of the institution’s board of trustees to discuss the labor conditions at its Abu Dhabi site.
The below is a response from the Guggenheim Foundation to our letters of March 16 and April 18. In point form below that, are Gulf Labor’s preliminary notes on what we consider an empty and factually incorrect missive from the Guggenheim. Points responded to are in bold (our emphases). A more detailed response will follow shortly.
With this letter, we express our profound concern for fellow Gulf Labor Coalition member Tania Bruguera who remains under house arrest in Havana since visiting her home country last December (2014). We join with artists around the world in urging the government of Cuba to drop all charges against Tania Bruguera, Angel Santiesteban, and Danilo Maldonado El Sexto.
