"We also hope you had a lovely MLK Day! There's always a risk that even the most powerful legacies can be hollowed out into just a date on a calendar. But it's during these trying times that cultural institutions can help bring the urgency of that history back to life, revealing how it continues to shape and undercut our lives."
"It's the way Chilean artist Lotty Rosenfeld models short-circuiting authoritarianism's signals, or the way John Wilson contributes to a more complete visual history, or Ana Mendieta left traces that we must train ourselves to see. It can be seen in deeply collaborative events all around the city - an art build to protest a Brooklyn jail, screenings to stoke lost urban memories - the small hearths we tend when hell freezes over."
A harsh winter morning yields a lone snowman as a small emblem of endurance. Observance of MLK Day risks becoming a hollow date, and cultural institutions can restore urgency to his legacy by connecting history to present injustices. Several artists push boundaries: Lotty Rosenfeld interrupts authoritarian signals, John Wilson expands visual historical narratives, and Ana Mendieta leaves bodily traces that require careful attention. Collaborative civic art actions and screenings animate lost urban memories and protest projects like a Brooklyn jail build. These collective artistic efforts sustain communities and provide warmth amid difficult times.
Read at Hyperallergic
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