“Exhibition Reflects on Columbia University’s Gaza Solidarity Encampments”
The given content draws upon multiple aspects of student activism, art, and institutional actions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly focusing on Columbia University’s history of solidarity efforts for Gaza. Through the lens of art and academic activism, the article traces the evolution of the **Hinds House Collective (HHC)**, a movement born from the intersection of various pro-Palestinian student movements.
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## Hinds House Collective: Art, Activism, and the Fight for Palestinian Liberation
Over the past several years, the geopolitical crisis in the Gaza Strip has increasingly become a topic of concern on university campuses across the globe. One such movement to emerge from these struggles is the **Hinds House Collective (HHC)** at Columbia University, which serves as a bold voice in advocating for Palestinian justice through art, protest, and collaboration.
Founded in the aftermath of the **Gaza Solidarity Encampments**, the collective has become the epicenter of academic resistance, following the disbandment of Columbia’s campus protests. These protests faced police raids and institutional crackdowns, culminating in a surge of arrests and the forced shutdown of the encampments—the events that catalyzed the formation of Hinds House Collective.
### **From Encampment to Collective Activism**
The origins of HHC lie in Columbia University’s **Gaza Solidarity Encampments**, a movement formed in response to Israeli attacks on Palestine. Established with the aim of protesting institutional complicity and raising awareness of the humanitarian crisis, these encampments were sites of multiple police raids and arrests. Despite this governmental and police intervention, student protestors remained resolute in advocating for humanitarian aid and political action against Israeli oppression.
Following these events, HHC emerged as a new collective focused on art and cultural resistance to continue the fight for Palestinian liberation. The collective’s formation was also impelled by Columbia’s **Interim President Katrina Armstrong’s** brief apology concerning the treatment of the protestors, which many activists deemed insufficient given the widespread police aggression during the protests.
### **Art Resistance: Hind’s House and Cultural Endeavors**
The **Hinds House Collective** propelled their mission forward through a dual exhibition and educational event, deeply inspired by the protests and resistance that preceded it. The exhibition was hosted off-campus at Columbia’s **Alpha Delta Phi fraternity house**, which holds symbolic significance, being “the closest privately owned building to Hind’s Hall.” Importantly, Hind’s Hall references **Hind Rajab**, a young Palestinian child memorialized by the renaming of Columbia University’s **Hamilton Hall** as a tribute to her tragic death in Gaza.
The exhibition, simply titled **HINDS HOUSE**, showcased an array of materials cultivated directly from the protests. With partnerships including the **Palestinian Museum** and other visual artists, the event featured video installations, sculptures, quilts, memorials, and mixed-media works commemorating those affected by the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
#### **Art as Healing and Political Tool**
The collective utilized art as both a form of healing and as an instrument of political dissent. A quilt debuted earlier in 2024 in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and subsequently expanded through contributions by activists, was displayed in the house. According to collaborative artist **Rebecca Goyette**, this quilt symbolizes ongoing resistance, community, and shared compassion. Goyette echoed the sentiments of HHC’s mission by emphasizing that the quilt would be expanded “until Palestine is free.”
#### **Self-reflection to Activism**
Another prominent artwork comes from **Meryl Ranzer**, whose series of daily self-portraits mapped the emotional and political trajectory of the conflict—from personal feelings to larger calls for systemic change, like calls for ceasefire and arms embargoes. The artwork not only displayed the evolution of personal reaction but also invoked the collective demands of social action and justice for Palestinian people.
### **The Role of Student Activism and Institutional Pushback**
On Saturday, a notable program during the exhibition was delivered by **Nerdeen Kiswani**, co-founder of the **Within Our Lifetime** activism group. Kiswani, who had been banned from Columbia’s campus, highlighted the importance of continuing efforts of solidarity despite personal and structural setbacks. Remarking on the exhibition, Kiswani powerfully reframed the struggle, pointing out how Hind’s memory, and the uncounted stories of others like her, necessitate continued activism.
### **The Encampment Legacy**
The legacy of Columbia’s Gaza Encampments continues to shape HHC’s role as a disruptive force in the fight to end the occupation of Palestine. Though the university had adopted and archived certain art pieces from prior protests within their own library system, the collective critiques this action as a strategy to neutralize subversive movements. Instead of radical change, institutional actions may, at times, seek to co-opt or depoliticize the student’s methods of resistance.
As one of the artists aptly stated, it may seem unlikely that “a single