Citing “Anti-Palestinian” Exhibition, Seattle Museum Staff Walk Out En Masse
Striking workers say the Wing Luke Museum show conflates anti-Zionism and antisemitism and does not center Palestinian voices.
Seattle's Wing Luke Museum (WLM) is closed until further notice after 24 staff members walked out last Wednesday, May 22, in protest of a pop-up exhibition that they say conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism and fails to center Palestinian voices.
For the past six days, 22 staffers of the pan-Asian Pacific American art and history museum have been withholding their labor in response to the opening of Confronting Hate Together, a traveling exhibition on display until June 30 that the WLM describes as “a contemporary portrayal of racism, hate and bigotry and community collective action."
A collaboration with the Black Heritage Society of Washington State and the Washington State Jewish Historical Society, the pop-up was inspired by Confronting Hate 1937-1952, a 2022 show that focused on the American Jewish Committee's mid-20th century media campaign to combat antisemitism in the United States. It was developed between the three organizations to reflect Seattle's history of racial segregation and "redlining," which barred Asian, Black, and Jewish community members from buying or renting property in certain neighborhoods.
Citing "limited and anti-Palestinian perspectives" in the current exhibition, striking WLM workers say they will not resume work until the museum meets their demands, which include removing any language equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism from all WLM publications and addressing the alleged lack of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim perspectives, which they argue goes against the museum's "Community-Based Exhibition Model.”
On Instagram, the striking workers pointed to a text panel featured in Confronting Hate Together that characterizes antisemitism as "often disguised as anti-Zionism." As examples, the panel cites a November 22 report of a local synagogue being spray-painted with the words "stop the killing." The text also refers to unspecified accounts of local high school students being verbally assaulted by classmates and student protesters expressing support for Hamas and calling for "a Palestinian state stretching 'from the river to the sea,'" a phrase that the panel describes as "defined by the erasure of Israel."
After staff became aware of the text on May 14, they sent their list of demands in a May 19 letter that resulted in two meetings between workers and leadership but did not lead to any changes in the exhibition. On May 21, the museum held an opening reception for Confronting Hate Together, with a public opening slated for the following day.
In response, 24 members of the museum's 52-person staff walked out on May 22, and all but two of them continue to refuse to work until leadership meets their stated demands. They are calling on the museum to conduct a review of all temporary exhibitions via the Community Advisory Committee (CAC), a process developed by the museum that allows local artists, community leaders, and staff to develop exhibition narratives and curate historical objects. Strikers are also demanding that the museum reevaluate "any partnerships that attempt to frame Palestinian liberation and anti-Zionism as antisemitism."
Striking workers say the walkout was also a response to leadership inaction since workers first expressed concerns over a statement that called Israel's attacks on Gaza "a conflict in the Middle East." The statement was reportedly signed by WLM executives and other Asian-American organizations belonging to the Asian Jewish Initiative, a coalition of Seattle Asian and Jewish groups co-chaired by 15 organizations including the pro-Israel Anti-Defamation League.
In response to a request for comment, WLM Communications Director Steve McLean told Hyperallergic that "the exhibit is a starting point for a larger dialogue and that dialogue is ongoing," adding that the show is "designed to inspire other voices to add their story" as it proceeds to travel to other venues, which have yet to be determined. McLean also clarified that while the museum contributed three panels, the text panel that discussed antisemitism was contributed by another organizer of the show.
"We approached them and asked them to consider what our staff had been saying and they accommodated. They responded graciously and fairly quickly with making some revisions," McLean said, although could not clarify to Hyperallergic what changes were made.
Located in Seattle’s Chinatown International District, the WLM was in the news last September, when authorities arrested a man who used a sledgehammer to smash through the museum’s glass windows while making racially biased comments.
While it is unclear when the museum will reopen, WLM staff have launched a fundraiser to crowdfund financial relief for strikers and support staff efforts during the walkout.
“We love the Wing Luke Museum and are consistently honored to steward the stories of our community members, many of whom have experienced the destructive harm of white supremacy, genocide, and violence that parallels the experience of Palestinians today,” workers wrote in the campaign’s description. “Our solidarity with Palestine should be reflected in our AA/NHPI institutions.”
Editor's note 5/29/24 3pm EST: This article has been updated with quotes from WLM Communications Director Steve McLean.
