ABSTRACT

While museums are absorbing the language of social justice by hosting exhibitions on themes like feminism, blackness, accessibility, etc. the same museums are battling with systemic injustice within their own walls. This article discusses how museums are failing to uphold social change in their institutions by drawing attention to two recent cases: the hiring of Kristen Windmuller-Luna as curator for African Arts at Brooklyn Museum and the protests against weapons manufacturer Warren Kanders during the Whitney Biennial 2019. This study finds how the ‘myth of neutrality’ and ‘non-performativity of anti-racism’, creates barriers for social change. The study discusses the belief that museums are neutral and how social justice is treated as a ‘trend’ rather than a social problem that the museum is implicated in. These findings suggest that for museums to stay relevant they must be closely interconnected with the community.

摘要

博物馆通过举办诸如女权主义，黑人，可及性等主题的展览来吸收社会正义的语言时，这些博物馆却在自己的墙壁上与系统性的不公正作斗争。本文讨论了博物馆如何通过吸引人们关注最近的两个案例来未能维持其机构的社会变革：在布鲁克林博物馆聘请克里斯汀·温德米勒-鲁纳（Kristen Windmuller-Luna）担任非洲艺术策展人以及在2019年惠特尼双年展期间针对武器制造商沃伦·坎德斯（Warren Kanders）的抗议。这项研究发现“中立神话”和“反种族主义的非表现性”如何为社会变革创造障碍。该研究讨论了以下信念：博物馆是中立的，以及如何将社会公正视为一种“趋势”，而不是博物馆所牵涉的社会问题。这些发现表明，要保持博物馆的相关性，它们必须与社区紧密联系。