A Toolkit for a Liberated Art World
Amin Husain and Nitasha Dhillon on Marco Baravalle’s new book, plus Jasmine Wahi on the continued fight for arts and culture after the midterm elections.
“Radical politics,” “marginalized communities,” “feminist art” … If you see these terms peppering wall labels at a major museum, there’s an excellent chance the institution behaves in direct opposition to those values and groups. Scholars Amin Husain and Nitasha Dhillon, who were also among the organizers of the historic Strike MoMA protests in 2021, know this pattern all too well. It’s part of the neoliberal capture of art institutions, which Italian curator and activist Marco Baravalle lays bare in his new book, The Battleground of Art. Read on for a review by Husain and Dhillon, who write that it’s a toolkit for building a better, freer art world.
Meanwhile, in the United States, that art world finds itself at a crucial turning point. In the wake of the midterm elections, longtime nonprofit arts leader Jasmine Wahi reminds us that the fight is only beginning. She opines today about the importance of holding Democratic officials accountable not just for redressing the damage inflicted by the Trump administration, but also for taking its responsibility to artists and culture workers seriously. “Rebuilding the same inadequate baseline is not enough,” she explains.
More in the news today, including public backlash against Egypt’s arrest of the editor of an independent publication and San Francisco-based painter Hiroshi Sato’s resistance against Silicon Valley and enshittifcation through his quietly subversive art. Heaven knows we could all use more of that.
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor, books
After the Midterms, the Real Work for Arts and Culture Begins
In the afterglow of the blue-nami, those of us who make, organize, fund, and sustain cultural life are feeling a twinge of hope. But I find myself slipping into a spiral of anxiety as the everyday reality of economic precarity sets back in. Our newly elected Democratic congressional leaders have an opportunity to change that reality — pushing back against Trump is necessary — but it cannot be the full extent of their ambition. | Jasmine Wahi
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Celebrate Indigenous Cinema and Storytelling with Free Films
Available for only two weeks, this curated selection of 14 Indigenous films features stories of resilience, inspiration, and hope.
News
- Prominent Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Egypt’s independent news outlet Mada Masr, is facing a one-year prison sentence among other penalties in a targeted crackdown on press freedom.
- Hans Arp's sculpture “S’élevant (Rising)” (1962) was stolen from a booth at Art Cologne on November 8.
- Rembrandt's "Night Watch" is teeming with microbes, and scientists hope this invisible life will be a key to unlocking some of the painting’s mysteries.
- Print Center and Women's Studio Workshop name new leaders, SITE Santa Fe's artists are announced, Lorna Simpson and Wolfgang Tillmans win major art awards, Penske Media partners with Amazon, and more in Art Movements.
- Ahead of MoMA's annual benefit for its Debra and Leon Black Family Film Center, protestors assembled outside the institution to call on the gala's honoree, Steven Spielberg, to reject the recognition over Black's Epstein ties.
Book Review
How to Free the Art World From Its Neoliberal Capture
In “The Battleground of Art,” curator and activist Marco Baravalle dissects the art establishment’s co-optation of radical politics and uplifts the stories of collectives that resist it. | Nitasha Dhillon and Amin Husain
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Applications are Open for the Core Residency Program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Join a cohort of artists and writers committed to developing a sustainable practice. Applications for the 2027–29 Core term are due January 8, 2027.
Profile
Hiroshi Sato’s Art Against Enshittification
“Insincere ironic detachment is abundant,” the Bay Area artist told Hyperallergic. “What is niche now are sincere depictions of the present.” | Max Blue
Read MoreHyper Links
- The tragic building collapse in Brooklyn on Wednesday left eight people dead, sending shockwaves through the city and reigniting the fight for safe, affordable housing. The developer has previously cut corners during construction and ignored city orders. [Gothamist]
- This week in depressing media news, the New York Times makes a move to buy Letterboxd — the Goodreads of film — for $330 million. Cinephiles are not happy, and rightfully so. [Filmmaker Magazine]
- Poet and writer Kristina Kay Robinson talks with artist (and fellow New Orleans local) Willie Birch about his show at the California African American Museum. [Burnaway]
- Benjamin Moser joined American Prestige podcast hosts Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison to talk about the long history of Jewish anti-Zionism, the subject of his excellent new book. [Nation]
Member Comment
—Lynn Basa on "Art Problems: Should I Get an MFA?"
From the Archive
This Art Book Is About You!
Much has been written about artists, curators, and art historians. Oskar Bätschmann’s The Art Public: A Short History is dedicated to the spectators on the other side. | David Carrier
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