Asper Family Pauses Support of Canadian Museum for Human Rights Following Palestine Exhibition
The lawyer and media magnate Izzy Asper was instrumental in setting up the museum when it was founded in 2008
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Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg. Photo © Robert Linsdell via Wikimedia Commons
The Asper family has stated that they will no longer support the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) following the exhibition Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present, which runs until November 2028 – reports The Art Newspaper.
The lawyer and media magnate Izzy Asper was instrumental in setting up the museum when it was founded in 2008. His daughter, Gail Asper, stated that the show displayed a “lack of context”, and took issue with “not mentioning the hostages Hamas took [on 7 October 2023]”. She said that she “feels betrayed by the curators and the leadership” of the museum.
A spokesperson for CMHR told The Art Newspaper that “Our mandate is to foster thoughtful reflection and dialogue about human rights. Building an understanding of the personal stories and experiences of Palestinian Canadians is squarely within that mandate. Their stories have a place in this museum.”
They also said the museum’s mandate “ includes combatting antisemitism and the devastating impact it has, and its alarming growth in recent years. In recent years, we have expanded our Holocaust and antisemitism education and programming, and we will continue to expand that work to promote respect and dignity for all.”
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