Two current exhibitions, Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving and One: Egúngún, i

Two current exhibitions, Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving and One: Egúngún, include wall text in languages other than English (Spanish and Yorùbá, respectively). As I process (meaning organize and describe) the Community Gallery records in the archives, I’ve noticed examples of similar efforts to include visitors who don’t read standard written English. The brochure for the 1976 exhibition Ñam, featuring Puerto Rican American artists, included a poem in Spanish by the Afro-Latino poet Luis Palés Matos; a 1977 exhibition featuring the work of Chassidic artists included Hebrew text; and a 1983 exhibition of blind and low vision artists included wall labels and brochures in braille.The Community Gallery was eager to make the Museum a more inclusive place. A 1971 brochure, written by Community Gallery curator Henri Ghent, explains that the gallery was created “for the express purpose of providing local artists (regardless of race, color, or national origin) an opportunity to SEE and be SEEN,” and claims that the gallery’s exhibits have engaged “virtually EVERY segment of the rapidly changing community that it now serves”. The Community Gallery frequently curated exhibitions thematically, bringing together work by artists who shared racial, ethnic or religious identities. This meant that the gallery risked tokenizing these artists, taking advantage of the symbolic diversity they offered without meaningfully engaging with their art or their communities. Offering an alternative to standard written English in wall text and brochures was one practical step the Community Gallery took towards authentic inclusion. By continuing the practice today, the Museum acknowledges (and celebrates) the diversity of Brooklyn’s artists and art-lovers.Posted by Ella Milliken Detro -- source link

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