On Saturday, February 22, over 40 protesters took over the Guggenheim in New York. Organized by a coalition of groups called the Gulf Ultra Luxury Faction (G.U.L.F.), the 20-minute intervention was staged to draw attention to the poor labor conditions at the construction site of the Guggenheim’s outpost in Abu Dhabi. A “manifesto for action” hung on the Guggenheim’s wall until it was torn down by a security guard.

According to Occupy Museums, the manifesto read, “Is this the future of art? Guggenheim is expanding its museum empire to a luxury island in Abu Dhabi. The migrant workers labor in 130 degree heat and essentially debt bondage conditions. Human Rights Watch and Call Labor are investigating this exploitation. Culture is not a debt spiral. Art should not violate human rights. Art is not a luxury asset of the 1%. Art is an act of freedom not bondage. Exploitation is not the future of art."

A number of cultural institutions including the Louvre and New York University are constructing outposts in Abu Dhabi. According to multiple reports, laborers are required to work long hours in intense heat for low wages and live in cramped, windowless rooms. If the workers complain to authorities about the conditions, they are threatened with violence.

The Guggenheim has yet to comment on the protest.