As we move into 2020, many more museums than ever before are evolving into sites of social justice. Author Elena Gonzales shared highlights from her new book Exhibitions for Social Justice, which examines interesting new curatorial work and best practices - from sharing authority to inspiring action, from building solidarity to forging long-lasting memories. Gonzales was in conversation with local museum professionals that work directly with diverse communities to address issues of social change that are featured in the publication: Cesareo Moreno, Director of Visual Arts & Chief Curator, National Museum of Mexican Art; Amanda Friedeman, Assistant Director of Education, Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center; and Jennifer Scott, former Director and Chief Curator, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. The panel shared examples of new and recent work that innovatively addresses challenging social topics around gentrification, citizenship, immigration, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, racism, anti-Semitism, and incarceration. The panel ending with the museum professionals asking questions to challenge their colleagues to come back better. This program was presented in partnership with the Museum and Exhibition Studies, University of Illinois, Chicago.
About the Book: Exhibitions for Social Justice (Routledge/2019), by Elena Gonzales, assesses the state of curatorial work for social justice today in the Americas and Europe. Gonzales analyzes and examines best practices and interesting new curatorial work to support all those working on exhibitions. From sharing authority to inspiring action, from building solidarity to forging long lasting memories, Gonzales seeks to share curatorial practices that lie at the nexus of contemporary museology and contemporary neurology. The book draws on ethnographic and archival work by Gonzales at over twenty institutions with nearly eighty museum professionals as well as scholarship in the public humanities, visual culture, cultural studies, memory studies, and brain science. Books will be available for purchase from Seminary Co-op Bookstore.
2020 Hull-House Museums and Social Justice Series
As we move into 2020, more museums than ever before are evolving into sites of social justice. Jane Addams Hull-House Museum has been at the forefront of rethinking and transforming museum practice. This series, in partnership with the Museums and Exhibitions Studies at University of Illinois at Chicago, explores the creative potential of museums to facilitate social change and champion issues the serve the common good. This program is a part of this extended series. Look out for related event below:
