Lingít and Unangax̂ artist Nicholas Galanin and Mexican-American sculptor Margarita Cabrera withdrew from a symposium at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) today, September 12, alleging that the institution’s decision to make the event private effectively censored participants amid pressure from the Trump administration.

“I come from a lineage that has endured attempted erasure through cultural, linguistic, and spiritual silencing,” Galanin wrote in a statement on Instagram. “My work is only possible because of the ancestors who persisted and refused to be silenced; who continued to carry our culture and pass on that responsibility to me, to speak to a larger audience than was able to see or hear them.”

In a letter to SAAM leadership and symposium participants, reviewed by Hyperallergic, Cabrera claimed that she expressed her discomfort with the institution’s decision to keep the symposium private and unrecorded during a planning meeting on June 23. She also alleged that she was denied a copy of the invite-only guest list.

“As an act of resistance to this quiet censorship, I choose not to participate in a dialogue that is private and not open to the general public for which it was intended,” Cabrera wrote in the letter. 

“In the face of oppression, silencing truth and giving into fear is not the answer,” Cabrera told Hyperallergic in a statement. “Despite suppression and intimidation, artists can and must continue to create artistic dialogues that give way to the imaginary, inspiring a sense of humanity and the creation of inclusive and safe futures for all.” One of Cabrera’s sculptures drawing attention to labor exploitation in Mexican factories serving United States consumers is held in SAAM’s collection, along with other works by the artist. 

Coinciding with the closing of the group exhibition The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture at SAAM, in which Galanin’s work is included, the symposium gathers 14 speakers to discuss research presented in the show on Friday and Saturday, according to a SAAM spokesperson. 

The Shape of Power, which opened in November, was named in President Trump’s first executive action targeting the Smithsonian as an example of what he called “inherently harmful and oppressive” content. Trump also took issue with the exhibition’s claim that “sculpture has been a powerful tool in promoting scientific racism,” and suggested in his executive order that race is a “biological reality,” echoing pseudoscientific beliefs.

Galanin’s “The Imaginary Indian (Totem)” (2016) (image courtesy the artist and Peter Blum Gallery, New York)

In his statement, Galanin cited the Smithsonian’s decision to make the symposium a private event accessible to only “a curated guest list” as well as a ban on recording the event and sharing it on social media as forms of silencing participants. The artist’s 2016 sculpture “The Imaginary Indian (Totem),” a replicated Tlingit totem under Victorian wallpaper, is included in the 10-month exhibition, which ends this Sunday, September 14.

A spokesperson for SAAM told Hyperallergic in a statement that the event was never meant to be public. The museum planned not to webcast the event because presenters asked not to be recorded, which also informed the decision to prohibit social media sharing, according to the spokesperson. The two-day event, the representative said, was intended to convene artists and scholars, and 250 invited attendees were expected on Friday and Saturday.

“We are disappointed that Nicholas Galanin will not participate in the symposium, but respect his decision and thank him for his important contributions to this groundbreaking exhibition,” the SAAM spokesperson said. The museum has not yet commented on Cabrera’s withdrawal.

A person with knowledge of the symposium’s planning told Hyperallergic on the condition of anonymity that the decision to make the event invite-only was made in order to protect the museum and speakers from further targeting by the Trump administration.

“The decision to make the event invitation-only, and not to record or stream, was absolutely made because of the Trump executive orders, which specifically targeted Shape of Power,” the individual said. “The idea, as I understand it, was to ensure security at the event and not make the museum even more of a target by the Trump administration, as well as to ensure that speakers were able to speak freely.”

The symposium is not listed online. Previously, SAAM has published information about its symposia and colloquia on its website and has often linked free recordings of the events. Admission to Smithsonian museums, except for the Cooper Hewitt in New York City, is free to the general public, and several of its events labeled “symposium” are listed publicly.

The Trump administration has intensified its attacks on the Smithsonian in recent weeks, releasing a cobbled list of artworks with which it takes issue, including several by Mexican-born artists. The White House has sought to purge the Smithsonian’s 21 museums and zoo of so-called “woke” ideology through a comprehensive review of programming, and has vowed to issue “content corrections.” Amy Sherald made national headlines for withdrawing her touring solo exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery after she said the Smithsonian placed her painting of a trans woman posed as the Statue of Liberty under scrutiny. 

The institution has said that it will conduct its own internal evaluation of its content and will share results with the White House.

“I will continue to speak through my work, and in spaces where artists are supported in speaking the past and present truth,” Galanin wrote, “because our collective future is dependent on our capacity to envision and build just, equitable, and sustainable communities.”