Dear Belvedere

Authors

Rabbya NaseerFollow

Abstract

In this powerful open letter—originally delivered as a video message—artist Rabbya Naseer explains her decision to cancel her 2025 solo exhibition at Belvedere 21 after the museum refused to allow her proposed works addressing Palestine, colonialism, and contemporary violence. Framed as both personal testimony and institutional critique, the letter meditates on the ethics of waiting, perseverance (sabr), and the responsibility of artists amid geopolitical crisis. Naseer recounts months of stalled communication and escalating curatorial restrictions that ultimately rendered any engagement with the Israel–Palestine conflict “not possible.” Rejecting the museum’s demands for neutrality, depoliticization, and the substitution of existing “cute” works centered on care, she denounces censorship disguised as institutional pragmatism and exposes the contradictions between museums’ public commitments to decolonial discourse and their unwillingness to confront ongoing atrocities. Written in a voice that oscillates between intimate address and collective solidarity, the letter situates the refusal not as an individual act but as part of a wider human response to witnessing genocide in real time. Naseer affirms that speaking truth—however limited its impact—remains an ethical necessity, and she concludes by reclaiming agency through refusal, community, and the quiet insistence of the “unworldly self” that resists coercive silence.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Naseer, Rabbya (2025) "Dear Belvedere," International Dialogue: Vol. 15, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32873/uno.dc.ID.15.01.1223
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/id-journal/vol15/iss1/6