Following a two-week protest occupation of Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, the institution has announced its closure until October.
In a statement and open letter, the activist group Goldsmiths for Palestine (G4P) have demanded Goldsmiths end ‘university complicity and silence on Israeli apartheid and genocide’. This May, several concessions were met following two campus occupations, but G4P continues to demand Goldsmiths cut ties with CCA donors Candida and Zak Gertler who the activist group allege have links to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Candida co-founded Outset Contemporary Art Fund.
In a statement on its website, Goldsmiths CCA explains that it has been ‘occupied by a student group, which prevents us from being able to operate properly as a public art gallery’. They continue, ‘We want to express our extreme sadness and sorrow to stakeholders (artists, educators and audiences) and staff for this temporary closure, which is a decision we have taken with a heavy heart. We hope for an end to the occupation, so Goldsmiths CCA can return to supporting artists, making exhibitions, and hosting our Residents.’
The occupation has caused the CCA to postpone German artist Galli’s exhibition, So-So-So, that was scheduled to open on 20 June.
This article has been corrected to reflect that Zak Gertler is not a co-founder of Outset Contemporary Art Fund and to clarify that Outset has no ties to Netanyahu. Additional amendments have been made to reflect G4P’s broader demands and to add the notification of Galli’s exhibition postponement.
