Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) is temporarily closed after police have been called to remove pro-Palestinian protestors who had planned to host an unofficial week-long programme of workshops, screenings and more in its courtyard.
The take-over was organised by Art Workers for Palestine Scotland, who have been calling on the CCA to back the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) in light of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. PACBI—part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) movement—advocates for a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions perceived to be connected to the oppression of Palestinian rights as stipulated in international law.
On 6 June, CCA announced on their Instagram account that the board had not come to a consensus on publicly endorsing the boycott.
Art Workers for Palestine Scotland’s programme was to comprise readings of anti-colonial texts, celebrations of Palestinian art, screenings showing films about the region and more. A group of protestors are understood to have begun occupying the building, according to the Glasgow Times, while crowds gathered in solidarity outside before police arrived.
Art Workers for Palestine Scotland said in a statement: “During a family-friendly reading and Arabic writing lesson outside the premises, CCA called the police who violently escalated: kettling members of the public, brutally arresting an elderly woman, and unforgivably putting their hands on us. Earlier, CCA’s internal security assaulted and tackled an art worker to the floor for entering the public space of the courtyard.”
The group condemned the actions of the CCA security in calling the police. A video shared on social media showed a handcuffed person in a red t-shirt being dragged into the back of a police van.
“Yesterday’s brutal events at CCA have torn apart the fabric of the art world,” they said in a statement today. “The illusion has been shattered, all trust is lost, the mask has dropped.”
In a statement sent to The Art Newspaper, a spokesperson for CCA said that Art Workers for Palestine had notified them about the programme of events they were planning to hold in the centre’s courtyard space on Monday 23 June. The spokesperson said that the intended “‘Liberation Zone’ had not followed CCA’s standard programming process—which includes contracting, safeguarding, risk assessment, and access considerations—and there was no prior agreement or contract in place.”
The statement continued: “CCA is proud to have hosted events in solidarity with Palestine in the past and remains open to future programme proposals submitted through our usual framework. We are not able to accommodate uncontracted events, especially on short notice, for reasons of safety and legal compliance. We were advised by security and by the police to close to the public.”
They added that at 12pm on 24 June—with the centre closed to the public—“people gathered outside both public entrances and “a group entered the building's Scott Street foyer area”.
“At this point, the police were called," they said. "The building was evacuated to ensure the safety of staff and partner organisations. No charges have been pressed by CCA, nor have we had further contact with police regarding this matter.“
On Wednesday, the Scotland-based artists Lisette May Monroe and Adrien Howard published an open letter to the CCA Director, board members and chair. They said: “We are stunned by this response and are left questioning what the CCA stands for as an ‘open source’ space? What protections does it actually offer the practices of the artists and the communities it serves?”
They urge the CCA to listen to the 800 artists who have signed a petition, along with CCA staff, to back the cultural boycott. They say: “The people in our community and your own workers are asking you to endorse PACBI and actively support the people of Palestine. Please listen. It is also essential that the CCA now lay out, in plain terms, the restorative action that you will take in account of what was invited on Tuesday.”
Israel's military campaign in Gaza has intensified in recent weeks, with the UN warning that Gaza’s entire 2.1 million population is at risk of famine.