Thinking about my thesis topic this past summer, I contemplated focusing on a simple archival project or something that would apply the experience I already have in galleries and archives. After meeting with a professor to discuss ideas, I decided that her suggestion to look at the role of museums in societal discourse, specifically when it comes to social activism, would be most stimulating for me. I intend to look at past case studies such as: Mining the Museum, Hide/Seek, and other key instances of activism in museums to develop my literary review.
As a potential case study I would like to look at the upcoming anniversary of the gay liberation movement. During my time at the Newseum, I helped to catalog a portion of new accessions for their upcoming Stonewall exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the gay liberation movement. I would like to use Rochester's iteration of this as a potential case study for my thesis. I believe that I would be able to begin establishing a precedent, or best practices, based on this case study, for museums seeking to address social issues within their community.
Image of people outside of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, NY. Sourced from Stuart, Tessa, "Full Moon Over the Stonewall: Howard Smith's Account of the Stonewall Riots," The Village Voice, 26 June 2015. https://www.villagevoice.com/2015/06/26/full-moon-over-the-stonewall-howard-smiths-account-of-the-stonewall-riots/
I think this topic hits a key ethical issue that I've been thinking about a lot given the particular political climate. As public institutions, I feel that museums have a social responsibility to act as advocates for social injustice. However, I'm a very progressive person and I'm sure there are many people in the field who might disagree. This is a very interesting topic to write about and I look forward to seeing how you go about tackling the issue. :)
ReplyDeleteAnna, it might be useful to think of the intent of the exhibit and how controversy and activism emerged from the conjunction of the exhibition's intent and the public's interfacing with the work (or the presumption therein). Consider looking at http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/open-art/.
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