After the injustice of George Floyd’s murder, the art world also underwent a racial reckoning. As one esteemed Black Curator Dr. Madeleine Haddon, of V&A East in London said, “it is of the utmost importance to me to pave the way for future generations of people of color to know that they belong within museums,” she said, “not only as visitors but as directors, curators, educators and more.”
In 2017, the National Endowment for the Arts commissioned a survey which “found that 27% of adults in the US had visited a museum or gallery over the previous year, compared with 17% of Black adults.”
Medium pointed this out, discussing “the simultaneous exclusion and exploitation of Blackness in so-called intellectual spaces…And [how] in museums, Blackness is often categorized under the ‘history’ label, while Whiteness is categorized as ‘high art’ — one that sometimes glamorizes the ownership of Black people.”
Exhibit by exhibit, the narrative is changing, and ESSENCE has curated a list of seven must-see exhibits with Black organizers and curators for you to check out this year.
01
The Guggenheim- New York City, NY
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 24: Ekow Eshun, Chair of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group is interviewed as six proposals go on display at the announcement of the Fourth Plinth shortlisted artworks at the National Gallery on May 24, 2021 in London, England. The public are invited to have their say about the proposed artworks to help inform the decision of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group who will announce two winning sculptures in late June, 2021. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 29: Bisa Butler attends the 2022 ABMB Art Fair Preview on November 29, 2022 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
04
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
MUNICH, GERMANY – NOVEMBER 26: Artist Isaac Julien during the PIN Party – Let’s party 4 art’ at Pinakothek der Moderne on November 26, 2016 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Gisela Schober/Getty Images)
05
Brooklyn Museum- Brooklyn, NY
Jessica Bell Brown, Kimberly Drew (Photo by Amy Sussman/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 16: Thelma Golden attends New York Arts Live & Bill T. Jones Anniversary Gala on May 16, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Dominik Bindl/Getty Images)
Work of California-based artist Leslie Adkins