New York's Museum of Modern Art has apologized following a "discrimination" controversy where museum security barred the entry of a visitor who was wearing a keffiyeh head scarf, a headpiece commonly interpreted as a symbol of Palestinian liberation.
The MoMA 'Keffiyeh' Controversy
Last Saturday, March 16, a Brooklyn-based independent writer named Ju-Hyun Park posted on X (formerly Twitter) about her and her friend's recent experience of being told they could not enter the institution due to the black-and-white keffiyeh in Park's bag.
According to Park's statement to Hyperallergic and Middle East Eye, security purportedly notified a nearby supervisor after noticing the scarf, and the two were consequently denied entry.
Park also claimed that all of this transpired without even being notified of the reason behind the staff's refusal to let them enter the museum, prompting the writer to describe the incident as an enforcement of "brazenly racist anti-Palestinian policy" in the X post.
Since exploding in notoriety, MoMA has released its own statement regarding the incident, which it shared with both Art News and Hyperallergic.
In it, the institution wrote: "Following a visitor's social media post, we implemented our established process for onsite incident review," adding that, after an initial investigation, the museum determined that the staff "misidentified" the keffiyeh as a banner during the routine security inspection.
As per MoMA's website, the institution's ban list includes "banners, signs, and flags" alongside "any other items that could put the art or visitors at risk, to be determined at the sole discretion of the MoMA Security Team."
However, the institution claims responsibility for the "mishap," saying, "We made a mistake and we apologize. Keffiyehs are not, and have never been, on the Museum's list of prohibited items."
"We have worked with staff to ensure our guidelines and training on this are clear, and we reached out to the visitor to apologize," it stated.
