Doors and window of the 280 SITE Gallery outside of “School as a Function of Empire.” Photos by Mya Jones.

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Behind frosted glass windows and a closed door, Curators Under Censorship, a collective of School of the Art Institute of Chicago students, alumni, and staff activists, showcase artwork analyzing the condition of attending a school which they feel is not only complacent in, but a participant in, the genocide of Palestine.

After five months of planning, the “School as a Function of Empire” exhibition is up through Dec. 4 at SAIC’s student-run gallery, SITE, at 280 S. Columbus Drive. With multimedia artwork from 12 artists, the CUC curators saw the show as not only an opportunity to reflect on recent events, but also one to build community. 

Exhibition tapestry by Curators Under Censorship.

Paired with the exhibition’s opening reception on Oct. 30, CUC hosted a wheatpasting workshop an hour before the reception. (Wheatpasting, a practice used by many activists, is the act of attaching posters using a paste made of flour and water.) On Nov. 15, the Palestine-led organization Jisoor hosted a teach-in. The final event around the show was an informal and open discussion about the show itself. It took place on Nov. 20 in collaboration with SAIC’s student group Jewish Voices for Peace.

Exhibition curators wheatpaste paper media onto the “Community Wall” during the opening reception

The reactions to the show were powerful. Many students became emotional looking at the work and said they appreciated its critical nature. 

Steph, a student at the opening reception, who wanted to identify by first name only, shared, “I feel — I want to say seen? I wasn’t a part of the show, but it’s a very dissociating experience being in an institution where Palestine is being censored.” 

Besides the celebration, flowers, laughter, and tears at the opening reception was the revelation that the CUC may have been censored. In an interview with two of the groups’ members Joey Maben (BFA 26) and Mira Simonton-Chao (MAAE 25), CUC said they ran into many roadblocks while planning, at one point even getting lawyers involved when the curators questioned how restrictions aligned with their rights as artists.

Visitors interact with the “Reading Table” holding a curated collection of books and two artist books “as we remember” by Mira Simonton-Chao and “I wobble” by Joey Maben.

A look at “School as a Function of Empire” from the back of the gallery as more visitors enter. Featuring from left to right: “Community Wall” by CUC, “Say Their Names” by Ahmad Almahdi, “Disclose, Divest” by CUC, and “Body Score” by Musa Ghaznavi

“School as a Function of Empire” is not only a response of feelings towards war and genocide but also a commentary on actions SAIC has taken towards student activists — including, notably, the arrests of 68 students at an encampment in the Art Institute of Chicago’s gardens in May 2024. Other protests have and continue to take place since then.

CUC said that SITE was fully on board with their exhibition and activities alongside it when the planning started in July. They said that SAIC’s Art School Considerations, a group made up of SAIC administrators and faculty to consult on exhibitions, stepped in at the last minute, creating some challenges. 

“Making us go through bureaucratic hoops and over submit and also [adding] waiting periods on their responses — all backed up until essentially the last two months before the show — which in itself felt like a barrier to us being able to execute the show, because there was this imminent sense that they were going to delay it,” Simonton-Chao said.

This back-and-forth did, indeed, lead to a delay in the installation of the show and the release of the exhibition’s promotional materials. Posters were put up only three days before the show’s opening and the curators continued to install work only moments before the reception. 

“There was a lot of fear around the show because of how admin was treating us and specifically censorship, which definitely created an atmosphere where not all people felt comfortable contributing to the show, which is just another instance of admin hurting students,” Simonton-Chao said.

CUC said that they wanted the exhibition to be more interactive than it ended up being. One of the pieces the curators hoped to include in the show was a community wall. 

“We put together community guidelines, making sure that community members remain respectful of each other when participating in what would have been the community wall. The community wall was an idea that was brought forward as something that was for people outside of the original curatorial collective to participate in, to write their thoughts, to make DIY art, essentially,” said Maben.

One exhibition curator, who chose to remain anonymous, wheatpaste an email from ASC onto the “Community Wall” during the opening reception.

Simonton-Chao said that this is an example of how ASC censored the show. More explicitly, Simonton-Chao and Maben said that extra measures were put in place that weren’t typical of SITE and other student exhibitions on campus, such as the requirement that the glass of the 280 SITE gallery be frosted to prevent view inside the gallery, and a rule that the door must remain closed while the show was open, further limiting visibility.

In response, the ASC provided a statement to F Newsmagazine describing their role, intent, and side of working with the student curators:

The objectives of ASC are to provide timely guidance on the realization of proposed student art in various settings, including SAIC gallery spaces and public or off-campus venues.

Our approach has always been “Not no, but how?” — how can we work with SAIC artists to honor the intention of their work or exhibition while ensuring the safety of the artists, the exhibition space, and our community as a whole.

The School has an ethical and legal obligation to protect the SAIC community against discrimination, harassment, and other harms. We were very open about these issues and asked the student representing the curatorial collective to propose possible solutions based on SAIC’s commitment to maintain a welcoming and inclusive environment that is free from discrimination. The exhibition that is on view now is representative of the solutions proposed by the student.

SAIC does not shy away from difficult topics, and we are often dealing with work that may be challenging for some viewers, so it is common for us to use door or window coverings so people are not unintentionally exposed if they do not want to be.

Regardless, the CUC curators of the SITE exhibition have created a buzz about their show and wider message.

A line of visitors waits to enter the 280 SITE Gallery during the opening reception.

Initial look at “School as a Function of Empire” from the front door. Featuring from left to right: “Dreaming in Letters” by Marium Asif, “Reading Table” by CUC, “Spiral Manifesto” by Vivien Adamian, and the “Zine Shelf” by CUC.

“I hope being able to see your fellow peers overcome a lot of administrative pushback and bureaucracy and be able to voice our opinions — makes people feel empowered about being able to participate more. Art is political, always has been. And that is something that this administration can never erase,” Maben said.

The student leaders in SITE who accept proposals for shows in SITE galleries, were unable to provide a statement within our publication timeline. We will continuously update the online version of this article.

“School as a Function of Empire” will be open until Dec. 4 at 280 S. Columbus Drive. If you do not have an SAIC ID but would like to visit the show, direct message @curatorsundercensorship on Instagram.