During a recent tour of the Archives for our A.R.T. program, I came across a memo that I found so pr

During a recent tour of the Archives for our A.R.T. program, I came across a memo that I found so prescient I couldn’t help but share what transpired in June of 1971. On the opening night of Pride and Prejudice: A Woman’s Exhibition a group of women conducted a three hour sit-in to protest what they saw as an exclusionary and misleading exhibition. Curated by Jo Miller, the idea for the exhibition came from “foot-in-mouth” quotes by men about women while also trying to address the “the more militant credo” of the Women’s Liberation movement. Miller included quotes by ‘great’ men that demeaned women in order to present “the many provocative and provoked faces of woman as she has been seen, both with pride and with prejudice.” The protestors wrote over didactics to “underline the unjust and condescending views of women’s enemies.”On opening day, June 7, 1971, four Brooklyn Museum staff members met with four representatives from the Women’s Liberation movement groups (as shown in the above memo). They discussed their grievances: 91% of the artists in the show are male; there should have been at least 50% women artists; and “the fact that no black women are in the show.” They were “demanding not only a show exclusively for women artists in the Museum, but one for black women artists.” That demand is why I thought this memo sent by Museum staff to the Director was so poignant. It took us nearly 50 years to have such an exhibition; We Wanted a Revolution took place just last year and is still touring.Perusing the Archives and conducting research always gives me the opportunity to reflect on how far we have come and how far we still need to go. This memo also brought to mind Howardena Pindell’s report “Art (World) & Racism: Testimony, Documentation and Statistics” that is featured in our publication We Wanted a Revolution Black Radical Women 1965-1985 Sourcebook and our 2015/2016 exhibition Agitprop!Posted by J.E. Molly Seegers -- source link

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