A story about a kidney and the drawing of a knee bring up age-old arguments about plagiarism and appropriation.
Lise Ragbir
Lise Ragbir is a writer and curator. Her essays about immigration, race, and culture have appeared in the Guardian, Time Magazine, and USA Today, among others. She was born and raised in Montreal, and now makes her home in Austin, Texas.
Posted inOpinion
Artists Breathe New Life into Archives
By cutting, reframing, and layering, artists, including Rodell Warner and Alanna Fields, encourage a re-viewing of the past.
Posted inArt
Ariel René Jackson on the “Detective Work” of Telling Truthful Stories
“We need to keep reassessing where we get our data from to understand how the narrative is shaped. And how it shapes us,” says Jackson.
Posted inArt
How Black Artists in Texas Demonstrate the Spirit of Juneteenth
For better or worse, words like “proud,” “unapologetic,” and “resilient” have come to define Texans, and these words and this attitude also define a spectrum of Black artists who are from, or have lived in, Texas.
Posted inOpinion
COVID-19 Pandemic Sheds New Light on Access to the Arts
We’ve seen an increase in online programming as museums close to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. One arts administrator ponders how we can maintain this accessibility, and how it is colored by race and class.
Posted inOpinion
Boston Museum of Fine Arts’s Apology Is Another Reminder of the Museum World’s Lack of Representation
Racist incidents like the one that targeted school children at the Boston MFA are neither the beginning nor the end. They underscore the museum world’s frequent failure to serve marginalized communities.
Posted inOpinion
Decolonization: an Act of Independence, Not Benevolence
It’s clear: We need space for new narratives. But how far will we get if the space-making rests in the hands of the colonizers?
Posted inOpinion
Can Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Louvre Video Change Perceptions of Who Belongs in Museums?
The “Apeshit” video is important because people of color rarely have the opportunity to claim such spaces, but it also perpetuates the dangerous notion that art is a luxury.
Posted inOpinion
What Black Panther Gets Right About the Politics of Museums
In one scene, the blockbuster superhero movie touches on issues of provenance, repatriation, diversity, representation, and other debates currently shaping institutional practices.
Posted inOpinion
Who Is Threatened by Women Who Curate Political Art?
Challenging art is essential for sparking difficult conversations, but two museum directors — both women — have recently stepped down after championing politically engaged programming.