Samia Halaby pictured in 2020 in front of her artwork. Photo: Lara Atalla
Samia Halaby pictured in 2020 in front of her artwork. Photo: Lara Atalla
Samia Halaby pictured in 2020 in front of her artwork. Photo: Lara Atalla
Samia Halaby pictured in 2020 in front of her artwork. Photo: Lara Atalla

'We put up a good fight': Palestinian artist Samia Halaby responds to US show cancellation


Melissa Gronlund
  • English
  • Arabic

Samia Halaby is undaunted after the cancellation of her exhibition at Indiana University’s Eskenazi Museum of Art.

“We put up a good fight,” says the Palestinian artist, 87, speaking to The National from her home in New York.

“It gives me a lot of pleasure to see that we received more than 14,000 signatures on our petition [to reinstate the show],” she adds. “And then they received a lot of pain. Phone calls, emails … every piece of press that we've received has been more embarrassing for Indiana [University]. This show was supposed to express my love of the Midwest, but, professionally, it's not the end of the world.”

The exhibition had been in the pipeline for three years, the result of a close collaboration between the Halaby and curator Elliot Reichert. It was due to open on February 10, but on December 22 Halaby received a phone call and then an email from museum director David Brenneman informing her of the abrupt cancellation.

The museum stated publicly that the decision was made due to fears for the safety of the artworks. According to Halaby, however, Brenneman admitted it was partly due to pro-Palestinian content that she had posted on Instagram.

Halaby tried to convince the museum not to cancel, but to no avail. When it began returning her artworks, she responded by setting up the petition. Within 24 hours it had attracted more than 5,000 signatures. The university and museum both received numerous calls, according to Halaby, many of them from students.

Samia Halaby’s geometric Fifth Cross from 1968 was one of the works due to be exhibited at the university museum. Photo: Samia Halaby
Samia Halaby’s geometric Fifth Cross from 1968 was one of the works due to be exhibited at the university museum. Photo: Samia Halaby

Invited to comment, Indiana University reiterated its statement that “academic leaders and campus officials cancelled the exhibit due to concerns about guaranteeing the integrity of the exhibit for its duration”.

For Halaby, the scale of the response was a surprise – as is the sentiment shift among younger people in the US towards support for Palestine. Numerous polls show that they are now more likely to understand the occupied country’s struggle as a part of a larger battle around social justice.

“It’s a night and day change,” she says. “And it’s dividing the society. There is the higher administration and government and the rest of the people. If you get TikTok or Instagram, some of the people I watch are delightful young Americans who speak about Palestine better than I do – better than most – and they are bright, clear and razor sharp and funny. They use humour as a tool and they just have me laughing and full of admiration.”

It is also a sharp turnaround from the artist’s experience in the US, where she has lived since 1951 after her family fled Palestine during the Nakba. She grew up in the Midwest, studying at the University of Cincinnati, Michigan State University and Indiana, where she stayed on after her master of fine arts degree to teach. When she left Indiana, passing up an offer of tenure, it was to teach at Yale University. There, she was the first woman to join the art department as a full-time member of staff.

Although she has artworks in major museum collections, she has had few exhibitions in the US and never achieved gallery representation in New York. “My whole life in the US as a Palestinian artist has been rejection,” she explains.

The negative space in between shapes is as important as the abstractions in Samia Halaby's 1989 work Worldwide Intifada. Photo: Samia Halaby
The negative space in between shapes is as important as the abstractions in Samia Halaby's 1989 work Worldwide Intifada. Photo: Samia Halaby

Serious interest in her work has come in recent years from institutions and figures in the Arab world. The Barjeel Art Foundation has long been a supporter, and during the Covid lockdown shed light on her digital abstractions, previously a little-known aspect of her work. Last year she had a major retrospective at the Sharjah Art Museum and she has signed with the highly-respected Sfeir-Semler Gallery in Beirut.

Her precise, colour-filled abstract paintings are now being understood both as part of the lineage of the Abstract Expressionism movement in America and as politically-engaged work that connects with other movements abroad. For Halaby, her juxtapositions of colour allow her to speak in the abstract about the relations between people, states and power in society, anywhere in the world.

The Eskenazi Museum of Art show would have contained 35 works, concentrating on the period in the 1970s when she made some of her best work and stretching into the present day. It centred around three major paintings that were donated to Indiana University and express the universalism and dynamism that Halaby sees in political struggle.

In Worldwide Intifada (1989), separated shapes jot across the horizontal canvas, each containing abstract colours and shapes that ring out in energy. The empty space in between the shapes is as important for Halaby as the jostling beauty of the filled sections, showing how negative space can be controlled by what is around it.

Another work inspired by Palestine that was to be in the show, Our Beautiful Land Stolen in the Night of History (2016), alludes to the tawny brown earth of the country, and reflects in its aesthetic her experimentations in the digital realm.

Our Beautiful Land Stolen in the Night of History, from 2016, pictures Palestine as a landscape. Photo: Samia Halaby
Our Beautiful Land Stolen in the Night of History, from 2016, pictures Palestine as a landscape. Photo: Samia Halaby

The cancelled show is scheduled to be followed by a sister exhibition, Samia Halaby: Eye Witness, at the MSU Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University campus. Curated by Rachel Winter, the show is due to go up on June 29 this year and MSU has confirmed to The National that the exhibition will proceed as planned.

The two organisations collaborated on the catalogue, which has already been produced and will be a major contribution to the study of Halaby’s work. “I'm pleased about the catalogue – that at least something of the work and the accomplishment is concretized,” she says.

The furore over the recent cancellation has also been heartwarming. But Halaby reflects: “It’s really hard to know that, [despite] whatever we're doing here – the demonstrations that brave people are doing over and over again everywhere in the world – still the killing is going on. It's still heartbreaking to see the children and the weaponisation of starvation and disease. The pain keeps going.”

The specs: 2018 Kia Picanto

Price: From Dh39,500

Engine: 1.2L inline four-cylinder

Transmission: Four-speed auto

Power: 86hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque: 122Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 6.0L / 100km

Groom and Two Brides

Director: Elie Semaan

Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla

Rating: 3/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill

Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Who was Alfred Nobel?

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.

  • In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
  • Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
  • Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.

Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff
Harvard University Press

Company Profile

Name: JustClean

Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries

Launch year: 2016

Number of employees: 130

Sector: online laundry service

Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption. 

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks. 

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes. 

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion. 

8. Pillar 2 implementation 

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations. 

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity. 

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

The Settlers

Director: Louis Theroux

Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz

Rating: 5/5

WHAT ARE NFTs?

     

 

    

 

   

 

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They allow the tokenisation of things such as art, collectibles and even real estate.

 

An NFT can have only one official owner at one time. And since they're minted and secured on the Ethereum blockchain, no one can modify the record of ownership, not even copy-paste it into a new one.

 

This means NFTs are not interchangeable and cannot be exchanged with other items. In contrast, fungible items, such as fiat currencies, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties.

 
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Tabby%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%20August%202019%3B%20platform%20went%20live%20in%20February%202020%3Cbr%3EFounder%2FCEO%3A%20Hosam%20Arab%2C%20co-founder%3A%20Daniil%20Barkalov%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Payments%3Cbr%3ESize%3A%2040-50%20employees%3Cbr%3EStage%3A%20Series%20A%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Arbor%20Ventures%2C%20Mubadala%20Capital%2C%20Wamda%20Capital%2C%20STV%2C%20Raed%20Ventures%2C%20Global%20Founders%20Capital%2C%20JIMCO%2C%20Global%20Ventures%2C%20Venture%20Souq%2C%20Outliers%20VC%2C%20MSA%20Capital%2C%20HOF%20and%20AB%20Accelerator.%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Results

6pm: Dubai Trophy – Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,200m 

Winner: Silent Speech, William Buick (jockey), Charlie Appleby
(trainer) 

6.35pm: Jumeirah Derby Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (T)
1,800m 

Winner: Island Falcon, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor 

7.10pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (Dirt)
1,400m 

Winner: Rawy, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer 

7.45pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m 

Winner: Desert Fire, Hector Crouch, Saeed bin Suroor 

8.20pm: Al Fahidi Fort – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,400m 

Winner: Naval Crown, William Buick, Charlie Appleby 

8.55pm: Dubawi Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,200m 

Winner: Al Tariq, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watsons 

9.30pm: Aliyah – Rated Conditions (TB) $80,000 (D) 2,000m 

Winner: Dubai Icon, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor  

Oscars in the UAE

The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo

Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic

Power: 242bhp

Torque: 370Nm

Price: Dh136,814

Poacher
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERichie%20Mehta%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nimisha%20Sajayan%2C%20Roshan%20Mathew%2C%20Dibyendu%20Bhattacharya%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Results

5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Nadhra, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)

5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Dars, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Taghzel, Malin Holmberg, Ernst Oertel

7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: M’Y Yaromoon, Khalifa Al Neyadi, Jesus Rosales

7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (PA) 1,400m; Winner: Hakeem, Jim Crowley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe

Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
AS IT STANDS IN POOL A

1. Japan - Played 3, Won 3, Points 14

2. Ireland - Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1, Points 11

3. Scotland - Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1, Points 5

Remaining fixtures

Scotland v Russia – Wednesday, 11.15am

Ireland v Samoa – Saturday, 2.45pm

Japan v Scotland – Sunday, 2.45pm

THE LOWDOWN

Photograph

Rating: 4/5

Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies

Director: Ritesh Batra

Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz

The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
​​​​​​​Princeton

RESULTS

6.30pm Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,200m

Winner Canvassed, Par Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)

7.05pm Meydan Cup – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,810m

Winner Dubai Future, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor

7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner Mouheeb, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard

8.15pm Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar

9.50pm Meydan Classic – Conditions (TB) $$50,000 (T) 1,400m

Winner Topper Bill, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar

9.25pm Dubai Sprint – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,200m

Winner Man Of Promise, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

Illegal%20shipments%20intercepted%20in%20Gulf%20region
%3Cp%3EThe%20Royal%20Navy%20raid%20is%20the%20latest%20in%20a%20series%20of%20successful%20interceptions%20of%20drugs%20and%20arms%20in%20the%20Gulf%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMay%2011%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUS%20coastguard%20recovers%20%2480%20million%20heroin%20haul%20from%20fishing%20vessel%20in%20Gulf%20of%20Oman%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMay%208%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20US%20coastguard%20vessel%20USCGC%20Glen%20Harris%20seizes%20heroin%20and%20meth%20worth%20more%20than%20%2430%20million%20from%20a%20fishing%20boat%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMarch%202%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Anti-tank%20guided%20missiles%20and%20missile%20components%20seized%20by%20HMS%20Lancaster%20from%20a%20small%20boat%20travelling%20from%20Iran%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EOctober%209%2C%202022%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERoyal%20Navy%20frigate%20HMS%20Montrose%20recovers%20drugs%20worth%20%2417.8%20million%20from%20a%20dhow%20in%20Arabian%20Sea%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESeptember%2027%2C%202022%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20US%20Naval%20Forces%20Central%20Command%20reports%20a%20find%20of%202.4%20tonnes%20of%20heroin%20on%20board%20fishing%20boat%20in%20Gulf%20of%20Oman%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
VEZEETA PROFILE

Date started: 2012

Founder: Amir Barsoum

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: HealthTech / MedTech

Size: 300 employees

Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)

Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC

Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Updated: January 18, 2024, 4:20 AM