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# Week in Review: Bethlehem Arts Center Raided by Israeli Army; Whitney Museum Employees Unionize
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/week-in-review-bethlehem-arts-center-raided-by-israeli-army-whitney-museum-employees-unionize/
- Published: 2021-05-20T20:07:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:38:33.000Z
- Description: Also, researchers say that ancient cave paintings are deteriorating due to climate change, and more.
- Author: Jasmine Weber
- Tags: News, Week in Review, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 09:11 (2021, 2022, part 1)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2021/05/image_from_ios.jpg)

A protester raising a Palestinian flag in front of MoMA (photo by Hrag Vartanian/Hyperallergic)

W*eek in Review is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.* [*Subscribe*](https://newsletters.hyperallergic.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) *to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter*.

## Solidarity With Palestine

Artist Emily Jacir’s arts center in Bethlehem was [ransacked by the Israeli army](https://hyperallergic.com/artist-emily-jacirs-bethlehem-arts-center-ransacked-by-israeli-army/). Soldiers also confiscated phones, computers, hard drives, cameras, and books.

Over 300 protesters [attended the most recent "Strike MoMA" protest](https://hyperallergic.com/strike-moma-protest-palestine-nypd-tackles-protester-arrested/), hosted under the slogan “All Eyes on Palestine,” during which NYPD officers tackled and arrested a protester who waved the Palestinian flag. The museum also confirmed that five activists from the campaign have been permanently banned from its premises.

Over 600 artists and organizations have [urged the boycott of the Zabludowicz Art Trust](https://hyperallergic.com/artists-boycott-the-zabludowicz-art-trust-over-israel-ties/) over its founder's ties to a pro-Israel lobby and the Israeli Air Force.

Against the view of Manhattan’s skyline, NYC artists [projected messages in solidarity with Palestine](https://hyperallergic.com/nyc-artists-project-messages-of-solidarity-with-palestine/), including: “Defend Palestine”; “Defend Sheikh Jarrah”; “All Eyes on Palestine”; and more.

After Palestinian content was restricted or removed from several social media platforms, users began [using an ancient method of writing Arabic](https://hyperallergic.com/people-are-using-an-ancient-method-of-writing-arabic-to-combat-ai-censors/) to combat AI censors.

## Museums Acquisitions

The Baltimore Museum used the funds from the $16.1 million deaccessioning of works by white male artists, including Warhol and Rauschenberg, to [acquire 125 works by underrepresented artists and artist collectives](https://hyperallergic.com/baltimore-museum-showcases-work-by-underrepresented-artists-funded-by-2018-deaccessioning/).

The National Gallery of Art [acquired a seven-panel work by Carrie Mae Weems](https://hyperallergic.com/work-by-carrie-mae-weems-acquired-by-national-gallery-displayed-with-memorial-to-black-union-soldiers/), which is now displayed beside a gilded memorial to black Union soldiers. Two panels of Weems’s work feature a photograph of the 19th-century monument.

## Archaeology

Ancient [cave paintings are deteriorating](https://hyperallergic.com/ancient-cave-paintings-are-deteriorating-due-to-climate-change/) due to highly increased seasonal moisture from monsoonal rains and worsening droughts caused by climate change.

To preserve ancient mosaics, archaeologists are [burying them underground](https://hyperallergic.com/to-preserve-ancient-mosaics-experts-are-burying-them-underground/). 

## In Other News

Citing job insecurity, [Whitney Museum workers are unionizing](https://hyperallergic.com/whitney-museum-workers-are-unionizing/). 

Scholars and artists including Anish Kapoor and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak have [called for the “immediate halt” of a controversial New Delhi redevelopment plan](https://hyperallergic.com/major-delhi-art-institutions-to-be-razed-as-part-of-controversial-redevelopment-plan/), which will raze major art institutions.

Restitution of a Franz Marc painting has [set a new precedent for art sold under Nazi duress](https://hyperallergic.com/restitution-of-franz-marc-painting-sets-new-precedent-for-art-sold-under-nazi-duress/) outside of Europe.

Biden has officially [scrapped Trump's bizarre plan for a "National Garden of American Heroes,"](https://hyperallergic.com/biden-scraps-plan-for-national-garden-of-american-heroes/) and revoked his predecessor’s authorization of harsh prison sentences for those who vandalize monuments.

## Awards & Accolades

- The Joyce Foundationhas announced the recipients of its annual Joyce Awards: **Sydney Chatman** with Congo Square Theatre Company; **Daniel** **Minter** with Lynden Sculpture Garden; **Kameelah** **Janan Rasheed** with FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art; and **~~SANTIAGO~~ X** with Chicago Public Art Group.
- **Rraine Hanson** was awarded the 2020 Barbara Hammer Lesbian Experimental Filmmaking Grant.
- **Courtney Webster** and **Meg** **Turner** were awarded the Robert Giard Grant for Emerging LGBTQ+ Photographers.

## Transitions

- **Trudy Benson** and **Danny Ferrell** are now represented by Miles McEnery Gallery.
- **Diedrick Brackens** was appointed to the board of directors of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation and Community Partnership.
- **Marcela Guerrero** and **Rujeko Hockley** have been promoted to newly endowed positions at the Whitney Museum. Guerrero was appointed the Jennifer Rubio Associate Curator, and Hockley was named the Arnhold Associate Curator.
- **Misan Harriman** was named chair of Southbank Centre in London.

## In Memoriam

- Mary V. Ahern (1922–2021), Paley Center for Media’s first curator | [*New*](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/arts/television/mary-ahern-dead.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)[ *York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/arts/television/mary-ahern-dead.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)
- Franco Battiato (1945–2021), pop singer-songwriter and composer | [Crack Magazine](https://crackmagazine.net/2021/05/italian-singer-franco-battiato-has-reportedly-died-aged-76/?ref=hyperallergic.com)
- Art Gensler (1935–2021), architect | [*Washington Post*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/art-gensler-dead/2021/05/18/4ec26fb4-b7e4-11eb-96b9-e949d5397de9%5Fstory.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)
- Charles Grodin (1935–2021), Broadway and film actor | [*New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/movies/charles-grodin-dead.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)
- Bob Koester (1932–2021), founder of the blues and jazz label Delmark Records. | [*Chicago Reader*](https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/bob-koester-obituary-jazz-record-mart-delmark/Content?oid=88843266&ref=hyperallergic.com)
- Paul Mooney (1941–2021), comedian and comedy writer | [*Los Angeles Times*](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-05-20/paul-mooney-death-dave-chappelle-celebrity-reactions-twitter?ref=hyperallergic.com)
- Jack Terricloth (1970–2021), vocalist for World/Inferno Friendship Society | [NextMosh](https://nextmosh.com/jack-terricloth-world-inferno-friendship-society-has-died/?ref=hyperallergic.com)
- Damon Weaver (1998–2021), journalist known for his childhood interviews of Barrack Obama and Oprah Winfrey. | [*New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/15/us/damon-weaver-obama.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)