After Mahmood Mamdani published Good Muslim, Bad Muslim in 2004, artist Naeem Mohaiemen immediately recognized himself after 9/11 in its pages. “We naively thought if we were polite in the face of Islamophobia, it would wilt,” he recalls. Both a vital record and a call to action, his opinion today reflects on the haunting time period after the attacks, the South Asian community activism that rose up in response, and the 25 years since. Now a professor at Columbia University, Mohaiemen writes, “Thankfully, Mamdani’s son, Zohran, had other ideas.”
More to kick off your week in art below, from the end of the School of Visual Arts’s beloved Photography MFA program and our review of a Pope.L exhibition in Manhattan to our news team’s guides to the upcoming season of -ennials (tri- and bi- alike) and Brooklyn’s first craft supply library — as ever, librarians are holding it down.
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor
Standing in the Shadow of No Towers
By August, the Tribeca nightclub Vinyl had gone into a Peter Gatien-era meltdown. Time magazine ran a dramatic cover story the year prior (“What Ecstasy Does to Your Brain”) and the dancefloor had posters warning about plainclothes sting ops. There was still talcum powder on the floor for dancing, but euphoric substances had vanished. In all my Sundays of dancing at Vinyl, I had never thought of how close it was to the Twin Towers — until that Tuesday in September when, by nightfall, the pavement outside was stacked with plastic bags of socks, t-shirts, and sweatpants we had collected for tower survivors who were expected to be pulled out “any moment now.” We waited until midnight, and by then it was clear — no one got out alive. | Naeem Mohaiemen
Lisa Sanditz: Missing Mountain on view September 18 – November 7
An exhibition of new paintings and works on paper. Opening reception September 18th from 5:30 to 7:30pm. Conversation with the artist September 24th from 4:00 to 5:00pm. Catalogue with essay by Barry Schwabsky.
News
- The School of Visual Arts will be ending its graduate Photography, Video, and Related Media program in light of the institution’s mounting deficit.
- The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt comes home to Scotland just two weeks after the quilt’s founder, Ally Van Tillo, died on August 30.
- The Brooklyn Public Library officially launches its first-ever lending program for craft supplies.
- The French culture minister said two small tears were found on the Bayeux Tapestry after its recent transfer to the British Museum in London. [Le Monde]
- Crowds gathered at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming, for the unveiling of a statue honoring Grizzly 399 the bear and her four cubs. [Buckrail]
From Our Critics
Pope.L Invites Us to Think Through the American Dream
A collection of his works on paper at the Drawing Center typifies his frantic and sometimes opaque renderings of thought. | Channelle Chevelle Russell
Joel-Peter Witkin’s God-Loving, Gender-Bending Art
His elaborate tableaux vivants blend elements of mythology, the Bible, and art history to express compassion for the marginalized. | David S. Rubin
University of Michigan’s Fully Funded MFA Program Combines Studio Art and Research
Top-ranked, tuition-free MFA program at University of Michigan’s Stamps School of Art & Design supports interdisciplinary, research-based practices.
Community
A View From the Easel: Oswaldo García
“Sometimes it’s infinite folding and binding, and I just spend the day or weekend doing that.”
Guide
15 Fall Art -Ennials, From St. Louis to Dakar
A photography show dedicated to NYC in the nighttime, an Indigenous-led arts festival honoring the Mississippi River, the first-ever Bienal de Yucatán, and more biennials and triennials to visit across the world.
UCR ARTS Presents Dispatches: The Photography of Douglas McCulloh, 1990–2025
The first full survey of the Southern California photographer’s four-decade career is opening this fall at UCR ARTS in downtown Riverside.
Hyper Links
- In the wake of Lonnie Bunch’s resignation from the Smithsonian and amid Trump’s attacks on the institution, culinary historian Michael W. Twitty reflects on being “a Smithsonian kid” and how the museums on the Mall shaped his life and career.
- Some readers are responding critically to a NYMag article titled “The Wasian Generation” and calling for greater representation of South Asian and Blasian people.
- So that’s who Elizabeth Holmes reminds us of in that unhinged clip from Nathan Fielder’s new documentary …
Member Comment
I feel it important to mention, since there are many much needed spiritual awakenings happening on this planet now, that there are as many ways of spiritual awaking as there are people or ways of doing art. To put limitations on this process now is not a good idea. This is one of the things I find off putting about ET. Awakenings are infinite in variety because they are connected to the infinite.
I also like the openness and humility of the last two paragraphs.
—Virginia Bryant on “What a Painter Taught Me“
From the Archive
A Mother-Daughter Inheritance Illustrated in Thread and Ink
Galician artist Bea Lema navigates themes of generational trauma and healing, tenderly illustrating the story of a daughter who desperately wants to protect her mother. | Lauren Moya Ford
Foundwork – 2026 Foundwork Artist Prize
The honoree will receive a $10,000 grant and studio visits with jurors Stefan Benchoam, François Ghebaly, Manuela Moscoso, Gabi Ngcobo, Esther Schipper. Three shortlisted artists will receive $1,000 grants.
Deadline: September 25, 2026 | foundwork.art
