August 13, 2021 

Installation view of Cloud Studies at Whitworth Gallery, Manchester Image: Courtesy of Forensic Architecture and Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester   

An exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester that addresses violence used by Israeli forces against Palestinians has been accused of antisemitism by a UK-based legal organisation that advocates for Israeli causes. 

Devised by the Turner Prize-nominated artist research group Forensic Architecture, Cloud Studies (until 17 October) examines how power structures shape the air we breathe, surveying instances across the globe—including Israeli military action in Palestine and the West Bank—to show the toxic environmental effects of chemical warfare such as tear gas and bomb clouds. Examples of cases will span Palestine, Beirut, London, Indonesia, and the US-Mexico border, and provide insights into Forensic Architecture’s game-changing methods of open-source investigation, employing tools that range from creating virtual reality environments and 3D modelling to interviewing survivors of violence to access and explore memories of trauma.

Installation view of Cloud Studies at Whitworth Gallery, Manchester Image: Courtesy of Forensic Architecture and Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester   

An introductory text to a film in the exhibition begins: "Forensic Architecture stands with Palestine" and continues to outline experiences of "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinian neighbourhoods by "Israeli police and settlers". It continues stating that the Palestinian liberation struggle "is inseparable from other global struggles against racism, white supremacy antisemitism, and settler colonial violence". In response, Daniel Berke, the director of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), a Manchester-based legal charity supporting Israel, has written to the vice-chancellor of the University of Manchester, to which the Whitworth belongs, claiming that the exhibition's language seems "designed to provoke racial discord".

Language used in the exhibition includes phrases such as the Palestinians’ “struggle against apartheid” and the problem of “settler colonial violence”.

One visitor to the Whitworth told the JC: “I don’t remember experiencing anything so hate-filled in an art gallery. The information is totally decontextualised and there is no mention of Hamas or the reasons for the conflicts”.

UK Lawyers for Israel have written to the vice-chancellor of Manchester University — to which the Whitworth belongs – reminding it that the gallery is “legally bound by the Public Sector Equality Duty”.

The lawyers said they were concerned about “the impact of the inflammatory language and representations contained in the exhibition on the Jewish people in Manchester”.