Art exhibit by Gitmo detainees draws outrage, protests in NYC
NEW YORK — An art exhibit at a New York City college seemed innocuous enough, mostly seascapes and still-life paintings of flowers and fruit.
But it’s the backgrounds of the artists — current and former terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay detention center — that drew protest and prompted the Pentagon to bar the further release of works created at the military-run prison.
The exhibit has been on display since October at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. It shows 36 paintings and sculptures created by eight men during their years being held at the U.S. military facility for terrorism suspects in Cuba. The works were released to the men's attorneys after being vetted by the U.S. government to make sure they did not contain hidden messages.
But news coverage of the show, including that some of the works were available for purchase, has spurred the Department of Defense to reconsider such releases and redefine who owns such works.
“Items produced by detainees at Guantanamo Bay remain the property of the U.S. government,” said Maj. Ben Sakrisson, a spokesman for the department.
Of the eight artists in the exhibit, four remain behind bars without having gone to trial and four have been released.
Some family members of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks were outraged such an exhibit was allowed in the city that was target of the nation’s deadliest terrorist attack.
“This is absolutely absurd that they would allow them to display their artwork,” said Alexander Santora, a John Jay graduate whose son, Christopher, was a 23-year-old probationary firefighter when he died in 2001.
“Where are their heads?” he asked. “Are they so far in the sand that they don't see what’s going on?”