Protesters with the group "Decolonize This Place" staged a demonstration at the Whitney Museum on Sunday afternoon, calling for a museum board member to step down. They also sought to draw attention to the rights of asylum-seekers.
In summation. #decolonizethisplace at the @whitneymuseumpic.twitter.com/E7SenqluM0
— William (@Powhida) December 9, 2018
Whitney vice chairman Warren B. Kanders owns Safariland, a company that manufactures tear gas. The art news site Hyperallergic first reported the connection between Kander's corporation and tear gas deployed against migrants at the border last month. Since then, more than 100 museum staffers signed a letter asking for Kanders' resignation and requesting a clear policy regarding moral qualifications for trustees. Museum director Adam Weinberg has responded to the letter saying the Whitney "cannot right all the ills of an unjust world, nor is that its role."
The protest began outside the Whitney with a group of artists, community organizers, and advocates for asylum-seekers holding banners and passing out flyers. At around 1:00 p.m., the group bypassed museum staffers who manage the incoming line of visitors at the entrance and took their demonstration into the Whitney's lobby.
Protesters at the Whitney Museum, December 9, 2018. (Shumita Basu/WNYC)Maria Garcia, a Queens resident and member of Comité Comadre, which advocates for the rights of people attempting to cross the US-Mexico border, said she wants to see the Whitney cut ties with Kanders. She said the connection between Kanders' corporation and tear gas recently deployed against migrants at the border exposes a blurred line between funding for cultural institutions and "the business of war."
Rick Chavolla, a board member of the American Indian Community House and a member of the Kumiai tribe, led the group in a chant as they lit sage in the museum lobby.
"Sage is medicine," said Chavolla, directing a call-and-response. "Tear gas is poison."
Chavolla said it's painful knowing a museum board member owns Safariland, recalling the use of tear gas at Standing Rock. He explained his organization has worked with the Whitney in the past to host events for indigenous communities, and his group is now rethinking whether they want to move forward with a Whitney event planned for February of 2019.
The Fire Department showed up at around 2:00 p.m. and informed the protesters they could not have an open fire in the lobby of the museum. The group was ushered outside, and a member confirmed in the evening that none had been arrested.
The Whitney Museum has not responded to requests for comment.
