[SPECIAL EDITION] Holocaust Artist’s Hudson, N.Y., Exhibition Another Casualty of War
Phillip Schwartz's Holocaust-themed artworks were to be shown at Hudson Hall. Schwartz withdrew his participation after the venue chose to add a "Muslim perspective" to the Holocaust exhibition.
An exhibition of Holocaust-themed artworks by Phillip Schwartz had been planned to open this past weekend at Hudson Hall in conjunction with International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Six weeks beforehand, the multipurpose arts venue told the artist they needed to add a “Palestinian-Muslim” point of view to the exhibition. Here is my report for The Forward on the controversy surrounding Schwartz’s exhibition and Hudson Hall’s pivot to recontextualize the Holocaust exhibit in light of current events in the Middle East:
Phillip Schwartz was ready to exhibit his Holocaust-related artwork. An arts center wanted to address accusations of genocide in Gaza.
(The Forward, by Seth Rogovoy)
HUDSON, N.Y. - Last Saturday evening, on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, which the United Nations designated in 2005 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, art lovers gathered at Christ Church Episcopal for the opening of Shoah: A Meditation on The Holocaust, a new exhibition of Holocaust-themed artworks by Phillip Schwartz, who lives in this riverfront town about two hours north of New York City.
The church sanctuary, where Schwartz’s artworks were displayed, was full of well-wishers and the merely curious. The setting of this sacred space lent an appropriate serenity and solemnity to Schwartz’s paintings, textiles and icons, some portraying highly stylized, sometimes gruesome images of Holocaust victims.
But for the artist, the opening of the exhibition was a somewhat bittersweet occasion. As of just over a month ago, the exhibit at the church, which is located on a residential side street, was planned as an auxiliary branch of a larger exhibition, whose main installation was slated for the more high-profile Hudson Hall, a multidisciplinary arts center on Warren Street, Hudson’s main drag, which presents nationally known artists and performers alongside regional and local artists.
Then, in mid-December, just six weeks before the exhibition was set to open, Schwartz was informed by Hudson Hall about a change in direction in how they wanted to present his work.
“Given the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it would be inappropriate to not include both Jewish and Muslim perspectives,” Hudson Hall executive director Tambra Dillon wrote in an email to Schwartz.
Schwartz says he was baffled and frustrated by this pivot to recontextualize the exhibition of his Holocaust-related work in relation to current events in the Middle East.
Click here to read the entire story in The Forward….
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It is tragic that Hudson Hall decided that there is an equivalence between the Holocaust and Israel's war with Hamas, declaring, in effect, that both are genocides and therefore the same. There is much that is detestable about the current Israeli administration and much that is awful about the deaths in the current war. But it is quite a stretch to claim it is genocide.
Do you suppose that a "Muslim perspective" might have included reflections on Muslim support for the Holocaust during World War Two? Or the attempt by Mulism countries after that was to wipe Israel from the face of the earth? Not likely.
Congratulations to Phillip Schwartz for deciding to withdraw from the Hudson Hall exhibition. But thank you for describing the work. I think I would have liked to see it.
It is not only "tragic" as Michael Saltz commented but it is also despicable and a quasi Holocaust denial attempt. The exhibit was dedicated to the Holocaust and not to current events. It was not about the Armenian Genocide, the eviction of Native Americans from North America, the Crusades or any other event in which large numbers of people were killed. In fact, if the director of Hudson Hall, Tambra Dillon, would consult a dictionary she would gain the knowledge that the Holocaust is a word describing a unique event, namely, the genocide of European Jewry by the Nazis during World War II. No Armenians, no Native Americans, no Uyghurs; JUST JEWS. If any Muslim perspective is given about the Holocaust, it would have to be one of 2 thoughts. One, current views by many Muslim leaders/Imams that the Holocaust never happened (Holocaust deniers) or, two, Muslim collaboration with the Nazis (e.g. Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem).
My guess is that Tambra Dillon knows all this and just wants to avoid any demonstrations for showing artistry about the Holocaust, as such demonstrations are common in the world of the "elites," without regard to actual events on the ground or to peer-reviewed history.
The public and Tambra Dillon are losers; Phillip Schwartz is the only winner for having the courage in not selling his soul down the river.