NCCAR shocked Minister of Heritage Acquiesces with Art Censorship at Museum of Civilization: Canadians upset they will not benefit from Southwest Asian/Middle East program

Ottawa, August 7, 2003. The National Council on Canada Arab Relations (NCCAR) is shocked at Heritage Minister Sheila Copps' acquiescence with the Museum of Civilization's (MOC) censorship move in prematurely terminating the Southwest Asian/Middle East program. MOC President, Victor Rabinovitch, is quoted saying that the exhibit troubled him because “it seemed to disseminate aggressive anger,” and the museum should not “rehash the things that divide us.”

NCCAR is disappointed that such a troubling sentiment would be expressed by the head of a government museum about an exhibition that displayed the art and experiences of Canadian artists of Arabs origins. NCCAR believes that such statements amount to an effort to censor art at one of Canada's most prominent museums.

“This move really smacks of Big Brother,” says NCCAR Executive Director Mazen Chouaib. “It is disturbing to see a government institution such at the MOC enacting policies that essentially amount to censorship as well as undermine our multicultural values; thus dividing Canadian communities.

NCCAR has also learned, that despite a serious and successful effort by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to raise funds to tour the Southwest Asian/Middle East art exhibit entitled ‘The Lands Within Me' in Arab countries, the MOC did not fulfill its obligation to do the same. NCCAR views this as a direct assault on Canadian culture and on the government's objective of projecting our multiculturalism values overseas. The Museum has only responded that it could not find sufficient funds for this endeavor—despite the fact that the exhibit pulled in almost a quarter of a million visitors.

NCCAR is well aware that the program was not fulfilled an only materialized to a fraction of the degree of its intended objective. Despite our best and numerous efforts at communicating the severity of this wrongdoing, the Minister remains ambivalent.

The Museum also attempted to argue that the program was cut because it wants to “get out of ethnic categorizations”, however, this logic does not seem to apply to the Southeast Asian and Western European programs that are apparently exempt from this policy.

“The justification for the cancellation of the program that I received from Dr. Rabinovitch and his staff—that the program did not fulfill its mandate—is flawed and obviously a cover for other more political objections,” says NCCAR Executive Director Mazen Chouaib. “It is a blow to Canadian values and undermines the fabric of our multicultural tapestry. The program affects all cultures and communities that come from that part of the world—Indianes, Pakistanis, Somalis, Armenians, Turks and Iranians to name a few.”

NCCAR is also at a loss to understand why, at a time when the Ministry has just celebrated Canada's first multiculturalism day, it would ignore the fact that a move to censor the legitimate artistic expressions of a specific ethnic group and a region is now occurring in a Canadian institution. As Heritage Minister, Sheila Copps is responsible for overseeing the artistic integrity of the MOC.

Given the controversies created by the MOC, NCCAR questions the leadership of the Minister and the MOC in this regard. NCCAR calls on the Minister of Heritage to confront the MOC's artistic censorship of the Southwest Asian/Middle East program and restore the program immediately.

For more information contact Jenn Gearey, Communications Coordinator at: (613) 238-3795