Official Says ‘El Negro’ Exhibit Won’t Close During Olympics

Pleas by Olympic officials to close a controversial exhibit of a stuffed African tribesman during the Summer Games will be rejected, the vice mayor of Banyoles said Tuesday.

Carles Abella said the decision to keep the exhibit open is “irrevocable” despite pressure from the International Olympic Committee and citizens who charge the museum display is racist.

Barcelona Olympic organizers sent a letter Monday to Banyoles officials expressing IOC concerns about “El Negro,” a stuffed black man holding a spear on display at the Darder Museum of Natural History since 1918.

The IOC said earlier this month it would ask the Barcelona Olympic Organizing Committee to work with Banyoles officials to seek closing the exhibit during the July 25-Aug. 9 Games because it could offend some visitors.

Josep Miguel Abad, the Barcelona Committee’s chief executive officer, said Tuesday that he had not yet received a formal reply from Banyoles officials and added that he was surprised by the controversy.

“There are many things that are more important,” Abad said. “There are greater priorities right now, aren’t there?”

Abella said the city voted last November to keep the exhibit open and has had plenty of time to reflect on its decision. He said a formal rejection of the IOC request is expected today.

Banyoles, a town about 70 miles northeast of Barcelona, will be the site of Olympic rowing events.

Dr. Alfonso Arcelin, a Haitian-born physician who lives near Banyoles, has led the protest against El Negro for more than a year. He appealed to the IOC for help earlier this year.

Banyoles officials have argued that the exhibit is no different from the mummies and skulls also on display in the museum.