Alejandro Valencia's MFA Thesis at Columbia Confronts Gaza Genocide

In Columbia University's MFA thesis exhibition at the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, artist Alejandro Valencia presents "DYNAMO (RATM01)" (2026), a three-module installation that critiques the institution's failure to address Israel's genocide of Palestinians. The work incorporates a keffiyeh belonging to Ridwana Rahman, a student banned from campus and denied her MFA after a protest arrest. Valencia's piece includes sundials compressing the keffiyeh, pencils facing off, and a broken microphone over Edward Said's hand, with a soundtrack of bombs, subway trains, and protest audio. The exhibition runs through May 24, 2026. Valencia's cohort matriculated in fall 2024 after the April 2024 clearing of Gaza solidarity encampments. Rahman, part of the 2025 cohort, was arrested on May 7, 2025, during a Butler Library protest, and later disciplined by Columbia. The university declined to comment citing FERPA. Other artists in the show address Gaza less explicitly, engaging with race, gender, and wealth. The article notes Columbia's $15.9 billion endowment and its compliance with Trump administration pressures, contrasting with Harvard's resistance.