There were many readings we have done describing and having examples of what curatorial activism is. The first example I have of that is in the essay “Towards Curatorial Activism” by Dr.Maura Reilly which says on page five, “I invited Indigenous Australian artist Richard Bell for a one-year international fellowship, which commenced with a survey exhibition that included over 4O works dating from 1992 to 2O1O. The exhibition was a huge success, with reviews appearing in prestigious online journals, as well as features in Art in America, and Art Asia Pacific.” This is an example of curatorial activism because the author actively works to change the scene and make it into something more impactful and fair. Another quote right after, “These different sessions are interwoven throughout the video (his artwork), juxtaposed with racist jokes about Aborigines and word associations that reveal the unconscious racism within Australian culture:”. The author reaches these sensitive but necessary subjects that raises attention to unbiased artworks from where he is from in Australia, to America. This kind of work sparks a match in the audience, one that makes them more aware, whether they want to be involved or not. The rest of the essay discussing the global art history and the racism, sexism, rape, and injustice that is faced with in the art world which is still active even until this day. In the book “This Is What I Know About Art” by Kimberly Drew, you can see acts of curatorial activism in there as well. During her employment at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on page 57 she says “At work, I partnered with the Museum’s Access Coordination team to highlight the programming it provided for disabled visitors. One of my proudest moments was doing Facebook Live tours of exhibitions in American Sign Language, Spanish, and Korean in an effort to enrich the museum’s largely English-oriented online program.” You can see the artist curating moments where she uses her work or the world around her to attract the audience to art and the changes around it. This is another example of curatorial activism!
These readings connect to the other themes and issues we have been discussing because they are by artists who actively involve themselves in the attempt to use art to change the world around them whether in political circumstances or to give out general knowledge of something. Authors, historians, and curators can be activists in the same way by using their own artwork or studies and showing them to others in an attempt to impact the world around them. This can be done in several forms such as decking out a hall, in an event like a museum showcase, or even to be seen in other places in public. Another example of this is in the reading of “The Art Of Activism” by Steve Duncombe and Steve Lambert where Chilean artist Alfredo jar builds his own idea of a museum compared to the city’s empty museum in Sweden before cruelly burning it down. This is an example of curatorial activism because of the effect this had on the people, where they petitioned for the artist to be the architect of a brand new museum for the people. This was also done in a nontraditional way (such as many of the other artists and their artworks we’ve discussed) with unexpected impacts which is what curators usually hope to do when getting down to business. Another moment similar to this one was in page 37 of “The Art Of Activism” book by Steve Duncombe and Steve Lambert where creative protests were created by the Iraq Veterans against the war in the streets of U.S. cities. Dressing themselves up and acting out violent scenes in these streets for the awareness of civilians. This is an example of curatorial activism because the curators, which are the soldiers, are creating this scene, the event, where they are hoping to create a change or impact based on their performance and what they stand for.
Moments in the Kimberly Drew book that felt particularly pivotal and meaningful to me were on page 42-43 where she gets in trouble for posting how she truly felt about the Whitney Museum and their decline of black artists’ recognition. She gets called into her boss’ office for a post and is told to think deeply about what she wanted to say. I can relate to this part because I am someone who also likes to speak my mind, without limits to social media. Another moment was back when she got in trouble for doing the same thing while she was in college. You know that an artist is truly passionate about something when he or she risks their status quo for it. These moments led to Drew’s activism because it helped shape the person she had become. Someone with a common blog post with significant experience in the art field, she is inclined to feel entitled about how much she knows and I happen to agree with her at this point. “I wanted to share a few moments that have shaped me as an activist as a proudly angry black person who has loved art for as long as they can remember” (page 59). She says another quote about her definition of activism which is “Activism is a collective action and an investment in the lives of other people.” (page 61). I agree with her definition and perspective considering how much she has seen, been through, and what she stands for.
The first piece of artwork that I have chosen from the exhibition that connects our reading to art activism is called “Working Class New York Series” by Dakota Santiago. The artist wishes to capture “harsh conditions” by tenants in the Bronx to the demographics that make up the city’s working class population. The artist says “The men and women no one sees but everyone needs.” The artist uses activism in these images because you can see the effort made to enter into their working spaces and capture these photos of the employees in their very physical laboring work in factories and industrial sites. These look like tough jobs that are being showcased, the type of work not just any regular person would volunteer to do.
The second piece of artwork I have chosen from the exhibit is called “El Diablo es Una Mujer” by Lizzy Alejandro. This piece focuses on the wearing of the Vejigante Mask taken from, traditionally worn by, men in Puerto Rico during Carnaval representing cultural and historical roles assigned to them and used instead to give women their power and visibility in cultural narratives in this piece of art. This is activism because you can see the artist using something that is already known and making a stand for women empowerment! These works can be conveying, that connects to our discussions thus far, the effects that using artwork like this in small museums can do. To the audience, such as myself, we can see these artworks and initially think something of them, when in reality the author was trying to display something else. It shows the diversity these pieces of art can have and how we will remember these moments of abstract art in our lives such as both of these pieces of artwork and what the artist wants from the viewer.
Works Cited:
https://www.maurareilly.com/pdf/essays/CIAFessay.pdf
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