Art Basel’s infamous taped banana installation could be life-changing for FIU student

Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management student Aruzhan Toleubay took a few minutes before her volunteer shift at Art Basel to snap a shot of the now infamous taped banana installation, “Comedian”, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. While she was taking a picture of the installation, a photographer was taking one of her.

That picture ended up on a New York Times story about how three buyers at Art Basel Miami paid between $120,000 and $150,000 each for the piece. The article, juxtaposed with the picture of Toleubay, who has leukemia and is struggling to pay for her treatment, prompted her friend and fellow Panther Hashim Al Abri to Tweet about how the amount of money spent on the art installation could likely save Toleubay’s life.

The Times followed up their Art Basel coverage with a story about Toleubay’s plight.

Toleubay, an international student from Kazakhstan currently studying hospitality management, had to halt her chemotherapy treatment on Dec. 9, when she hit a $500,000 cap on her insurance. Each additional treatment costs $34,000. She has already amassed $200,000 in medical bills at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, so she had to wait a few weeks for the cap to be renewed in 2020. On Friday, after The New York Times began working on their story, Toleubay’s doctor at the University of Miami called her to say she could start chemotherapy again.

In spring of her junior year, Toleubay was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Although she and her family wanted her to return to Kazakhstan for treatment, doctors advised she should not travel.

“At the time, doctors told me the cancer was spreading fast and that every day counts,“ Toleubay said. “I was without my family, but with the support of my advisors and friends here at FIU, I started chemotherapy,” she added.

One of her Chaplin School advisors, Sanjay Dhawan, even shaved all his hair to show his support. “Aruzhan is an amazing student, very energetic, who creates an atmosphere of happiness and joy,” Dhawan said.