L.A. Festival Ignores Exhibit Efforts

I was astonished to learn through a story in The Times that, according to Los Angeles Festival Artistic Director Peter Sellars and Executive Director Allison Sampson, the festival this fall “will limit itself to Los Angeles-based artists” (“Scaled-Down L.A. Festival Loses International Artists,” Calendar, June 5).

The article went on to quote those officials as saying that this decision was made for “monetary reasons” and was due to the “volatile political situation in Middle East and African countries.” My astonishment turned to sadness as I read about this diminished scope. I now, however, realize that it was inevitable given the attitude the festival assumed toward at least this international participant.

We at USC have been working under the illusion that Fisher Gallery’s exhibition of Israeli contemporary art, including Palestinian and Druze works, was a participant in the festival. We are scheduled to open our international show, “LOCUS,” in September in the early days of the festival.

Are we now being told that this exhibition, which is fully funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ministries of Education and Culture in Israel, USC and many private contributions from Jews and non-Jews alike, is not going to be included in the festival? Is the fact that we have arranged for artists to come to Los Angeles who have exhibited in the Venice Biennale, Documenta and elsewhere throughout Europe to be lightly dismissed at this late date? How did this happen without the international participants being informed by the festival itself?

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One would think that if the festival was going to radically curtail its vision in mid-stream, it might have first consulted with participants like us. We have been struggling long and hard to do what we could to help make Peter Sellars’ international vision viable. Festival leadership has chosen to ignore our efforts time and time again. And whenever Fisher Gallery has spoken to the festival offices about this neglect (which occurs whenever a Times report on the festival’s progress appears), the festival regularly blames The Times. Reporters tell me the Israeli exhibition has never even been pointed out to them.

What is going on here? A wise friend of mine once said: “If something happens once, it is an accident; if it happens twice it is a coincidence,; but if it happens three times, it is a pattern and you are a fool if you ignore it.”

Well, it’s time for all of us to pay attention! I say this because if our experience with the festival is any gauge, the sheer inefficiency with which it operates will certainly convince any other international participants they might still have to cut and run. Examples abound: As of this date our agreed-upon deadline for a catalogue essay by Peter Sellars has been missed by three weeks and is thus endangering our catalogue for the show; appointments have not been kept, and calls have not been returned.

Just for the record, the catalogue for our exhibition will include an essay by A. B. Yehoshua, Israel’s foremost novelist and an artist frequently mentioned as being on the “short list” for the Nobel Prize. He is also a prominent member of Peace Now.

Our exhibition, “LOCUS,” is curated by critic Shlomit Shakked. The art she is planning to show breaks new ground by shattering stereotypes with regard to Israeli attitudes. “LOCUS” would have been the perfect exhibition for the “cultural demilitarized zone” that the festival claims to be. Furthermore, all of our donors expect the festival to be an international event. An article in The Times is no way to inform them of Sellars’ new thrust.

Why, I wonder, would the festival enlist the aid of a large number of highly creative, global and civic-minded Los Angeles-based individuals, get them to help and summarily inform them via the press that their efforts will no longer be needed?

USC’s Fisher Gallery will present its Israeli exhibition regardless but, a word of counsel for the next time: Don’t keep it all so close to the vest. Let us know there are problems before they explode; we might be able to help.