(Photo : JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images)
The pro-Palestine artwork of Dani Collette and Allora McCullough was on display in the exhibition 'Planting Seeds, Sprouting Hope,' which was removed from the nonprofit gallery Craft Alliance in St. Louis.
The duo was chosen as artists-in-residence at the gallery for 11 months from July 2023.
The exhibition opened on Sunday, June 21, and will run through Saturday, July 20. However, shortly before its debut, two pieces by Collette were removed from display, reportedly without the artists' knowledge: a glass bowl titled 'Symbol of Solidarity,' which was decorated with a keffiyeh print, and several watermelon-shaped pieces carved with the phrase "Land Back," which is a common phrase made by Indigenous decolonization movements for the return of land that settlers have taken.
Several of Collette's title cards were taken down, including those for the pieces 'Indigenous to Palestine' and 'From the River to the Sea,' the latter of which has historically been a slogan for supporters of Palestinian statehood.
Collette told St. Louis Public Radio she showed up, and her artwork and titles disappeared. She noted that he thinks it is an incredibly disrespectful and aggressive stance to take without any sort of discourse or effort at discourse.
She said that her goal was to have a discourse about the positive way in which Palestinians/Gazans are using it. She claimed that she had a firsthand account from a Palestinian who informed her that when they use it, it is a call for freedom, equality, and peace for all inhabitants' From the River to the Sea,' including Jews and Israelis.
On June 24, Craft Alliance announced on Facebook and Instagram that it had decided to remove the show due to "antisemitic slogan[s] and imagery" that called for "violence and the destruction of the Jewish state of Israel."
Speaking to St. Louis Magazine, Bryan Knicely, executive director of the Craft Alliance, said he was aware of the show's "broad themes" but not its "specifics" until 45 minutes before the opening when a Jewish volunteer described its contents as offensive.
