November 12, 2023
We are writing in our capacity as workers at the Brooklyn Museum to unequivocally recognize Israel's ongoing actions in Gaza as genocide of the Palestinian people; to stand with Palestinians as they resist violent colonial occupation and apartheid; and to call on our colleagues in the cultural field, as well as our Brooklyn Museum community, to join this movement.
The Brooklyn Museum’s mission statement, in which we take great pride, states that our institution aims "To bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act." We come together in the spirit of this statement, and from a variety of intersectional perspectives, with deep sorrow, anger, and grief for all lives that have been lost—those who were killed between October 7 and today, and also those killed and displaced in the long history of Israel’s colonial occupation of Palestine since the Nakba of 1948. Many of the authors come to this stance of solidarity with ancestral history of genocide and oppression and present-day experience of the effects of white supremacy, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and the long legacies of colonialism. Some of the authors and signatories of this letter are Jewish and honor our ancestors by refusing the Zionist perpetuation of genocide in our names.
Since the October 7 attack that killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis and resulted in the taking of hundreds of Israeli hostages, Israeli forces have killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, including more than 4,000 children, and are detaining thousands of Palestinian hostages in Israeli jails—many without charge or trial. Israel has forcefully displaced many thousands and has cut off access to medical care, food, water, fuel, internet access, and other crucial resources. Israel has continued its merciless attacks on Gaza even while knowing Israeli hostages are held there, bombing hospitals, a refugee camp, holy sites, and blocking exit routes to effectively trap Palestinians in Gaza. Meanwhile, in the United States, cultural institutions have largely uplifted a narrative of recent events that erases or downplays Palestinian loss, discredits the Palestinian fight for self-determination, and dehumanizes Palestinians. This outlook contradicts the stated values of our institution and those that we personally hold as art workers, writers, and artists.
We refuse to make this issue more complicated than it is: the unrelenting killing of Palestinians must stop with a ceasefire and the occupation of Palestinian land must end.
As Museum workers, we know the powerful role that institutions play in uplifting impactful cultural voices. We also recognize the dissonance between the way that cultural institutions amplify and historicize justice movements of the past while often failing to fully engage with those in the present. American institutions’ silence on this matter contributes to the erasure of this genocide from the historical record; with this letter, we aim to correct that while making it clear that at this crucial moment, we will not become complicit by remaining silent.
Many of the undersigned participated in the November 9 Shut it Down for Palestine action in solidarity with communities across New York City, the impetus for this statement. Many more attended marches with thousands of community members, including the peaceful action led by Within Our Lifetime Palestine that began outside the Brooklyn Museum plaza on October 28. We act in solidarity with a global artistic community that has spoken out in support of Palestinian sovereignty, including, but not limited to, the signatories of Writers Against the War on Gaza, an earlier letter from artists and writers, Artists Against Apartheid, groups of scholars, those published in Artforum, and the global community of all those who value human rights and value life as precious.
We invite everyone in our community—current and former employees, exhibiting and collection artists who have shown in our galleries and performed on our stages, visitors, members, donors, and neighbors—to sign this letter and join us in solidarity.
Signed,
Corinne Segal
Joaquín Cohen Ristorucci
Lauren Argentina Zelaya
Rosie Ryan
Carmen Hermo
Naima Dobbs
Sukanya Prasad
danilo machado
cassandra
Tessa Barlow-Ochshorn
Casey Morrissey
H. Sinno
Hannah Cohen
Hussein Omar
Halima Muhammad
Stephanie Crawford
Jeanette Wall
Tarin Karimbux
Jennifer Lu
Desiree González Acevedo
Claire Glass
Michael Reback
Jillian Lipman
Khalil Hardy
Dina Paola Rodriguez
Jordan Cooper
Lillian Young
Sam Kelly
Sarah Benson
Gloria Delgadillo
Kriss Li
Jeanne Locker
Tal Mancini
Zeno Pittarelli
Kait Astrella
Molly Griffard
Megan Miles Stewart
Mae Eskenazi
Morgan Bassichis
nadav schwartzman
Joseph Shaikewitz
Audre Wirtanen
Alejandro Heredia
Zoe Ziegfeld
Ariana Swei
Issa Nasiri
Ezra Benus
Delia Maria Davis
Grace Henning
melissa aliz
Ankita Srivastava
Miss Malice
Monica Mariño
sunny iyer
Aisha De Avila-Shin
Suneil Sanzgiri
Hannah Marshall
Michi Osato
Marc Sollinger
Walden Huntley-Fenner
Lizzy Saxe
Julia Mellor
L Tuthall
Rainer Turim
Adrian Blader
Nate Mendelsohn
Zoni Rockoff
Teddy Ryles
Maribel Cosme-Vitagliani
Matt Miner
Josephine Heston
Leah Roh
Alex Dolores Salerno
Stefan Skripak
Serda Yalkin
Oscar yi Hou
Sam Bellamy
Jordan Mayfield
Katherine Block
Sierra Mainard
Holland Baker
Denia Hasic
Terence Washington
Alberto Garcia
Isabella Rafky
Rebecca Goyette
Miko Revereza
Inga Manticas
imani parkinson
Ileana Lado
Caroline Gillaspie
Leah Plasse
Haley Henscheid
Allison Shyer
Brian Orozco
Austin D Bowes
Kayla Lewis Hue
Camilo Godoy
Sacha Yanow
Sarah Konowitz
Sofia Corporan
Alejandro fajardo
Jordan Lord
Katherine Aguirre
Eva Rose Boiko
Madeline Zappala
Jonathan “JD” Dorado
Rebecca John
Meesh Fradkin
Eliza Fish
Alejandra Perez
Steph Rivas
Laura Sofía Hernández González
Utsa Ramaswami
Marisa Hall
Colleen Arce
Anna O’Connell - Ouimet
Unimuke Agada
Kat McFarlin
Katie Yee
Mitsuko Clarke-Verdery
Merlin whitehawk
Ren boyd
Sarah Manzo
Lia Kramer
Megan Holland
Grace McCants
Stacie
Samantha Gomes
Nusrat Hussain
Tess Wolterstorff
Ann Marie Krulick
Mona Chalabi
Catherine Almonte Da Costa
kristina olegario loy
Toni Hellmann
Rudy Natanzon
Ariel Duncan
Kolin Mendez
Romina Beltrán Lazo
Bahar Behbahani
Christina Visconti
Emily Leopold
Mahnoor Sheikh
JoLillian Zwerdling
Beatrice Johnson
Morgan Maben
Elektra KB
Shadow Comms
Bianca Legazpi
Lyndsey Beutin
Emma Manetta
Jeevan Farias
Shiva Addanki
Michael Brandt
Paige Schaefer
Michelle Josefine Vanegas
Shelley Cathcart
Natalie Green
Miles Toth
Kim Salac
Isabel Varban
Taylor Wegner
June Lei
Erin Mathieu
Senti Sojwal
Olive Panter
John Edmonds
Nsenga Knight
Beatle Darcy
Christina Marinelli
Adriane Rozier
Sarah Chaudhry
Ash Williams
Farheen Malik
Danny Vazquez
Rose OMalley
Grace Miceli
Anika Sabin
Alisa Yang
Markus Herrmann
Keith McGraw
ray ferreira
Jovi Bathemess
Mildred Beltre
Sarah Chavarria
Christina Martinelli
Una Osato
Dalila Scruggs
Inés Anleu
Theo S
Chris Muller
Quinn Mendoza
Jacqueline Veliz
Ry Dunn
Morgan Golden
Cynthia Segal
Ana Armengod
andy montes
JoAnn AG
Emma Sosebee
Busra Erkara
Nalini Edwin
Ally Caple
Gracy Malkowski
Lily Harris
Emily Simpson
Nitaya Simms
Jackie Du
Marjorie Prophete
Pablo Serrano
Brianna Wilson
Christy Admiraal
Kenneth Sousie
Tarisse Iriarte
Melani de guzman
Syan Rose
Ariana Vaeth
Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo
Paige Hanserd
Ginger Brooks Takahashi
Jael McCants
Amelia Louise
Aba Mfrase-Ewur
Odette Vega
Andie Kimura
Kelsey Goldman
Shannon O'Neill
Chris Voss
Natalia Muñoz Durango
Ryan Tran
Mira Dayal
Tiril Hasselknippe
Reshavan Naicker
Esther michaels
Faythe Levine
Mar Angelo
Brett Wallace
Sunny Shokrae
Gabe Gordon
Jennifer Ansley
Genevieve Parker
David Ben Gaza
Jessica Chappe
Muhammad bin Ghabiun
Tamara Santibañez
Helen Lin
Robert Smith III
nicole killian
Enrique Mendía
Sofia Soto Sugar
J.E. Molly Seegers
Lo Traster-Lee
Leah Schiffman
Babs Peisch
Julie Czeck
Rami George
Erin Cartwright
Mojan Farid
Anisa Jackson
Cindy Hwang
Catherine Gomez
Shirine Saad
Anthony Korum
Holden Seidlitz
Anya Whelan-Smith
Meagan Hughes
Carla Forbes
Laval Bryant
Vera Savory
Sonia Sánchez
Justin Han
Ryan Oskin
Ananya
Rachel Kettler
Kyle Thornburg
Robyne Walker Murphy
Jasmine Williams
lee rae walsh
Alex Matzke
Sierra
Hannah Seo
Olivia Karwowski
Kripa Mehta
Zach Lamb
Ivy Sole
Marina Chao
rosza daniel lang/levitsky
Arianna Gaujean
Leila Khoshnoudi
Eboni Hogan
Vanessa Thill
Laura Henriksen
Kristiina Eelnurme
Michael Magliazzo
Collin McClain
marta rodríguez maleck
Dalia Fakhouri
Marco Sabater-Hernandez
Khadija Djellouli
Amalia Quintanilla
Constantine Jones
Alexandra Murray
Corinne Butta
Laura Augusta
Celeste Mahoney
Leah Barr
Giancarlo Montes Santangelo
Kristin Herbeck
Sheril Christopher
Katie Giritlian
Dany Greene
Ayah Aly
Elisabeth Nicula
Erika Smith
Natalie Aguilar
Amad Ansari
Odalys Burgoa
Sana Altaf
Nathan Butcher
charles theonia
Jojo Mengele
Barbara Darko
Silas Norum-Gross
TM Davy
Sara Epstein
Alexandra Warner
Lucie Jerome
Elise Beck
Brooke Baldeschwiler
Manal Khan
Nadia Iqbal
Xochitl Perez
Sandra Sigala
Zoe Grueskin
Blake Paskal
zena zendejas
Tamar MacKay
Adela Goldsmith
kalina heras
Mindy Greenspan
Cionín Lorenzo
Cally Guasti
Jess Gordon
Hallie Chertok
Talia Shiroma
Leah Rotkin-Ellman
Miriam Rotkin-Ellman
Tanya Ellman
Katherine Nickel
Annie Ellman
Jane Asher
Kaitlin Williams
Jennie Tang
Ayqa Khan
Celeste Miller
maya tatikola
Juliette Bobrow
Abhinav Prasad
Nicole Gordon
Beata Krupa
Owen O’Brien
Kerime Alejo
Jason Edwards
Pooja Chopra
Glynnis Mcmanamy
Linda Ellman
Crystal Cooper
yasmine a
Amina Malik
Stephanie Yuan
Mel Hsu
Colin Small
Sahar Beyad
Shea Spiller
Danielle Hills
Yanel Garcia
André Zachery
Erika Umali
Sylvia Gorelick
Rev. Melony McGant
Ébun Nazon-Power
Mei Zheng
Stacey Kahn
Katherine Kusiak Carey
Hiwetay Haile
Jaira Miller
Eva Friedberg
Valentina Siad
yvonne prieto
Hillary Bisono
Beata Krupa
Bartek Krupa
Michaella Shiamilis
Cree M
Jake Gallant
William Thomas
Sophie Mumper
Marisha Lozada
Josey Flores
DaeQuan Collier
Francesca Sotomayor
Kafilah M
Ash Oakley
Fatima Salameh
Izzy Mustafa
Preston Foxx
Lisa Guraya
Briyana Rainer
Talya Fischbach
Genny Roman
Raphael Mutamba
lynn huynh
Noah van Genabeek
Will Glass
Yara Doumani
*Note: Responses will be updated here regularly.
