Trump is a defecating fly on a camel's back': Palestinian artist Samia Halaby on being banned, exiled and now celebrated

"It's a miracle I get out of my interview with Palestinian artist Samia Halaby alive. Not just because the creaky wooden stairs to her second-floor Tribeca, New York live-work space are alarmingly steep, but because certain people view the 88-year-old acclaimed abstract artist, a pioneer of digital art, as a dangerous security threat. In December 2023, Indiana University, Halaby's alma mater, cancelled what was due to be the first American retrospective exhibition of Halaby's work at the university's Eskenazi Museum of Art."

"The exhibition had been three years in the making but Halaby was informed she was no longer welcome in a terse two-sentence letter from the museum's director, citing vague security concerns. The real reason, she suspects, was the museum's wish to distance itself from anything supportive of Palestine in the wake of 7 October. Almost a year later, says Halaby, Michigan State University abruptly cancelled the opening party for her solo retrospective and removed a painting whose title, Six Golden Heroes, referred to the escape of Palestinian political prisoners."

"Now, after being cancelled and censored, Halaby is being awarded the 2025 Munch award for artistic freedom. Does this feel like vindication? Not really, she says over a cup of black tea we drink in a makeshift dining room, with the offensive Six Golden Heroes, an entrancing dazzle of bright squares, next to us. This is polarisation. The people who were good were always good. Nobody's changed, everybody's become more extreme."

Samia Halaby is an 88-year-old Palestinian abstract artist and pioneer of digital art. Indiana University cancelled a planned first American retrospective at its Eskenazi Museum of Art in December 2023, citing vague security concerns. Halaby suspects the museum sought distance from anything supportive of Palestine after 7 October. Michigan State University later cancelled the opening party for her solo retrospective and removed a painting titled Six Golden Heroes, which referenced the escape of Palestinian political prisoners. Students protested on her behalf, but university administrations made cancellation decisions. Halaby received the 2025 Munch award for artistic freedom amid ongoing polarisation.

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