The London Review of Books has expressed its disappointment after the Barbican backed out of hosting a lecture series which included a talk about the Holocaust and allegations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
The Guardian understands the Barbican was planning to host the event until an advert in the LRB revealed that the title of the talk by the writer Pankaj Mishra was The Shoah after Gaza. Senior leadership then decided to withdraw from the arrangement.
The Barbican said no official agreement to host the talk was in place and that it backed away after the event was publicised “prematurely”.
The organisation claimed the LRB’s decision to advertise the event meant it did not have time to “do the careful preparation needed for this sensitive content”.
“We carefully consider the content of all screenings, performances, talks and exhibitions hosted by the Barbican before agreeing to host them,” it said.
A description of Mishra’s talk on the LRB website reads: “A powerful western narrative holds the Shoah to be the incomparable crime of the modern era. But we find our moral and political consciousness profoundly altered when Israel, a country founded as a haven for the victims of genocidal racism, is itself charged with genocide.
“What is the fate of universal values after Israel’s collapse into violent nationalism?”
In a statement, the LRB said: “We were disappointed that the Barbican withdrew from hosting the lectures at a late stage but are glad that this important series is going ahead at St James church, Clerkenwell.”
Mishra criticised the Barbican’s decision, saying a “pervasive sense of fear and panic” is closing down debate on the issue within cultural spaces.
“I’m not surprised but it’s still shocking,” Mishra said. “The whole point of culture and the arts is to embrace diversity, different view points and protect imaginative freedom.
“It’s become clear that war crimes have been committed on a daily basis and powerful people who have supported the Israeli regime are doubling down on their untenable position. That breeds a pervasive sense of fear and panic that infects even cultural institutions.”
Dr Toby Simpson, the director of the Wiener Holocaust Library, said the Barbican’s decision not to host the talk was not necessarily a sign of panic. He said: “There has always been a need for sensitivity when dealing with the Holocaust, due to its unprecedented scale, complexity and shocking inhumanity.
“Cultural institutions have a right to expect that speakers are sensitive to racism. This is increasingly the case, which is a good thing.”
Simpson said there was a widespread failure to acknowledge antisemitism and its legacies today, especially on the left of the political spectrum, and that was “likely to have played a role in the Barbican’s decision”.
The LRB’s winter lecture series is a long-running fixture in London’s literary calendar and was held at the British Museum until the Covid-19 pandemic. The three lectures in the 2024 series will be given by Mishra; Hazel V Carby, professor emeritus of African American studies at Yale University; and the writer Terry Eagleton.
The Barbican was forced to apologise last year after it was accused of censorship when it asked a Palestinian speaker to avoid discussing “free Palestine” at length during an event in June. It described the decision as unacceptable and “a serious error of judgment”, for which it was “deeply sorry”. It has since hosted the London Palestine film festival, in November.
In 2021, the Barbican was accused of being “institutionally racist” by its own staff, who detailed incidents of abuse and criticised leadership’s response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The fallout led to the resignation of Sir Nicholas Kenyon after 14 years in charge, then its new director, Will Gompertz, left after only two years in the post, announcing the move in August 2023.
