Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary
-
0:02 - 0:04Representation matters.
-
0:05 - 0:08Authentic representations of women matter.
-
0:09 - 0:13I think that too often,
our public representations of women -
0:13 - 0:16are enveloped in the language
of the extraordinary. -
0:17 - 0:20The first American woman
to become a self-made millionaire: -
0:20 - 0:22Madam C. J. Walker ...
-
0:23 - 0:25The dresses of the first ladies
of the United States ... -
0:27 - 0:30Shirley Chisholm, the first woman to seek
-
0:30 - 0:33the US Democratic party's
presidential nomination -- -
0:33 - 0:34(Applause)
-
0:36 - 0:37As a museum curator,
-
0:37 - 0:39I understand why these stories
are so seductive. -
0:40 - 0:43Exceptional women
are inspiring and aspirational. -
0:45 - 0:47But those stories are limiting.
-
0:47 - 0:51By definition, being extraordinary
is nonrepresentative. -
0:51 - 0:52It's atypical.
-
0:53 - 0:57Those stories do not create a broad base
for incorporating women's history, -
0:57 - 0:59and they don't reflect
our daily realities. -
1:00 - 1:04If we can collectively apply
that radical notion -
1:04 - 1:06that women are people,
-
1:06 - 1:08it becomes easier to show
women as people are: -
1:09 - 1:13familiar, diverse, present.
-
1:13 - 1:16In everyone's everyday throughout history,
-
1:17 - 1:20women exist positively --
-
1:20 - 1:23not as a matter of interpretation,
but as a matter of fact. -
1:24 - 1:28And beyond a more accurate
representation of human life, -
1:28 - 1:30including women considers
the quotidian experiences -
1:30 - 1:35of the almost 3.8 billion people
identified as female on this planet. -
1:37 - 1:41In this now notorious museum scene
from the "Black Panther" movie, -
1:41 - 1:44a white curator erroneously
explains an artifact -
1:44 - 1:46to Michael B. Jordan's
character seen here, -
1:46 - 1:48an artifact from his own culture.
-
1:49 - 1:53This fictional scene caused
real debates in our museum communities -
1:53 - 1:57about who is shaping the narratives
and the bias that those narratives hold. -
1:59 - 2:01Museums are actually rated
-
2:01 - 2:05one of the most trustworthy sources
of information in the United States, -
2:05 - 2:08and with hundreds of millions of visitors
from all over the world, -
2:08 - 2:11we should tell accurate histories,
-
2:11 - 2:12but we don't.
-
2:13 - 2:16There is a movement
from within museums themselves -
2:16 - 2:18to help combat this bias.
-
2:18 - 2:22The simple acknowledgment
that museums are not neutral. -
2:23 - 2:25Museums are didactic.
-
2:25 - 2:28Through the display of art and artifacts,
-
2:28 - 2:31we can incite creativity
and foster inclusion, -
2:31 - 2:34but we are guilty
of historical misrepresentation. -
2:34 - 2:38Our male-centered histories
have left our herstories hidden. -
2:40 - 2:45And there are hard truths
about being a woman, -
2:45 - 2:47especially a woman of color
in this industry, -
2:47 - 2:51that prevents us from centering
inclusive examples of women's lives. -
2:53 - 2:54Museum leadership:
-
2:54 - 2:57predominantly white and male,
-
2:57 - 3:01despite women comprising
some 60 percent of museum staffs. -
3:01 - 3:04Pipelines to leadership
for women are bleak -- -
3:04 - 3:06bleakest for women of color.
-
3:07 - 3:10And the presence of women
does not in and of itself guarantee -
3:10 - 3:12an increase in women's
public representation. -
3:13 - 3:15Not all women are gender equity allies.
-
3:16 - 3:19In the words of feminist
theorist bell hooks, -
3:19 - 3:20"Patriarchy has no gender."
-
3:21 - 3:23Women can support the system of patriarchy
-
3:23 - 3:26just as men can support
the fight for gender equity. -
3:27 - 3:30And we often downplay
the importance of intersectionality. -
3:32 - 3:37Marian Anderson was one of the most
celebrated voices of the 20th century, -
3:37 - 3:40and the Smithsonian
collected her 1939 outfit. -
3:40 - 3:43After the white Daughters of
the American Revolution denied her access -
3:43 - 3:46to sing in Constitution Hall,
because she was black, -
3:47 - 3:50she famously sang instead
on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, -
3:50 - 3:53to a crowd of over 75,000 people.
-
3:56 - 3:58And in libraries all over,
including museums, -
3:58 - 4:02you can still find the groundbreaking
1982 anthology, entitled -
4:02 - 4:05"All the Women Are White,
-
4:05 - 4:07All the Blacks Are Men,
-
4:07 - 4:08But Some of Us Are Brave."
-
4:10 - 4:13Demands for the increase
of women's representation -
4:13 - 4:16does not automatically include
Afro-Latinas like me ... -
4:16 - 4:20or immigrant women,
or Asian women, or Native women, -
4:20 - 4:22or trans women, or undocumented women,
-
4:22 - 4:25or women over 65, or girls --
-
4:25 - 4:27the list can go on and on and on.
-
4:28 - 4:29So what do we do?
-
4:31 - 4:34Targeted initiatives
have helped incorporate perspectives -
4:34 - 4:36that should have always been included.
-
4:37 - 4:40I arrived at the Smithsonian
through a Latino curatorial initiative -
4:40 - 4:42whose hiring of Latinx curators,
-
4:42 - 4:44mostly women, by the way,
-
4:44 - 4:48has raised the profile for Latinx
narratives across our institution. -
4:49 - 4:50And it served as a model
-
4:50 - 4:55for our much larger Smithsonian
American Women's History Initiative, -
4:55 - 4:58which seeks to amplify diverse
representations of women -
4:58 - 5:00in every possible way,
-
5:00 - 5:02so that women show up,
-
5:02 - 5:05not only in the imagery
of our contemporary realities, -
5:05 - 5:07but in our historical representations,
-
5:07 - 5:09because we've always been here.
-
5:11 - 5:15Right now though, in 2018,
I can still walk into professional spaces -
5:15 - 5:17and be the only --
-
5:17 - 5:20the only person under 40,
the only black person, -
5:20 - 5:21the only black woman, the only Latina,
-
5:21 - 5:23sometimes, the only woman.
-
5:24 - 5:27My mother is African-American
and my father is Afro-Panamanian. -
5:28 - 5:31I am so proudly and inextricably both.
-
5:31 - 5:33As an Afro-Latina, I'm one of millions.
-
5:35 - 5:38As an Afro-Latina curator,
I'm one of very few. -
5:39 - 5:42And bringing my whole self
into the professional realm -
5:42 - 5:44can feel like an act of bravery,
-
5:45 - 5:48and I'll admit to you that I was
not always up for that challenge, -
5:48 - 5:51whether from fear of rejection
or self-preservation. -
5:53 - 5:54In meetings, I would only speak up
-
5:54 - 5:57when I had a fully developed
comment to share. -
5:57 - 6:00No audible brainstorming
or riffing off of colleagues. -
6:01 - 6:02For a long time,
-
6:02 - 6:06I denied myself the joy of wearing
my beloved hoop earrings -
6:06 - 6:07or nameplate necklace to work,
-
6:07 - 6:11thinking that they were too loud
or unscholarly or unprofessional. -
6:12 - 6:13(Laughter)
-
6:13 - 6:17I wondered how people
would react to my natural hair, -
6:17 - 6:21or if they viewed me as more acceptable
or less authentic when I straightened it. -
6:22 - 6:25And anyone who has felt outside
of mainstream representations -
6:25 - 6:29understands that there are basic elements
just of our everyday being -
6:29 - 6:31that can make other people uncomfortable.
-
6:33 - 6:34But because I am passionate
-
6:34 - 6:38about the everyday representation
of women as we are, -
6:38 - 6:43I stopped presenting an inauthentic
representation of myself or my work. -
6:44 - 6:45And I have been tested.
-
6:46 - 6:48This is me pointing
at my hoop earring in my office -- -
6:48 - 6:49(Laughter)
-
6:50 - 6:53Just last month, I was invited to keynote
a Latino Heritage Month event. -
6:54 - 6:57The week of the presentation,
the organization expressed concerns. -
6:58 - 7:00They called my slides "activist,"
-
7:00 - 7:02and they meant that negatively.
-
7:03 - 7:06(Laughter)
-
7:06 - 7:10(Applause)
-
7:11 - 7:12Two days before the presentation,
-
7:12 - 7:17they requested that I not show
a two-minute video affirming natural hair, -
7:17 - 7:20because "it may create a barrier
to the learning process -
7:20 - 7:21for some of the participants."
-
7:22 - 7:23(Laughter)
-
7:23 - 7:28That poem, "Hair," was written
and performed by Elizabeth Acevedo, -
7:28 - 7:31a Dominican-American
2018 National Book Award winner, -
7:31 - 7:35and it appeared in an award-winning
Smithsonian exhibit that I curated. -
7:36 - 7:37I canceled the talk,
-
7:37 - 7:42explaining to them that their censorship
of me and my work made me uncomfortable. -
7:42 - 7:49(Applause and cheers)
-
7:52 - 7:55Respectability politics
and idealized femininity -
7:55 - 7:57influence how we display women
-
7:57 - 7:59and which women we choose to display.
-
8:00 - 8:04And that display has skewed
toward successful and extraordinary -
8:04 - 8:07and reputable and desirable,
-
8:07 - 8:09which maintains the systemic exclusion
-
8:09 - 8:13and marginalization of the everyday,
the regular, the underrepresented -
8:13 - 8:15and usually, the nonwhite.
-
8:16 - 8:19As a museum curator, I am empowered
to change that narrative. -
8:20 - 8:23I research, collect and interpret
objects and images of significance. -
8:24 - 8:26Celia Cruz, the queen of Salsa --
-
8:26 - 8:27(Cheers)
-
8:27 - 8:29yes -- is significant.
-
8:29 - 8:31And an Afro-Latina.
-
8:31 - 8:35The Smithsonian has collected
her costumes, her shoes, -
8:35 - 8:37her portrait, her postage stamp
-
8:37 - 8:39and this reimagining ...
-
8:40 - 8:42by artist Tony Peralta.
-
8:42 - 8:44When I collected and displayed this work,
-
8:44 - 8:47it was a victory
for symbolic contradictions. -
8:48 - 8:50Pride in displaying a dark-skinned Latina,
-
8:50 - 8:52a black woman,
-
8:52 - 8:54whose hair is in large rollers
which straighten your hair, -
8:54 - 8:57perhaps a nod to white beauty standards.
-
8:57 - 9:01A refined, glamorous woman
in oversized, chunky gold jewelry. -
9:02 - 9:03When this work was on view,
-
9:03 - 9:05it was one of our most
Instagrammed pieces, -
9:05 - 9:08and visitors told me they connected
with the everyday elements -
9:08 - 9:11of her brown skin or her rollers
or her jewelry. -
9:12 - 9:14Our collections include Celia Cruz
-
9:15 - 9:18and a rare portrait
of a young Harriet Tubman ... -
9:20 - 9:23iconic clothing from
the incomparable Oprah Winfrey. -
9:25 - 9:26But museums can literally change
-
9:26 - 9:29how hundreds of millions
of people see women -
9:29 - 9:31and which women they see.
-
9:31 - 9:35So rather than always
the first or the famous, -
9:35 - 9:39it's also our responsibility to show
a regular Saturday at the beauty salon, -
9:41 - 9:43the art of door-knocker earrings ...
-
9:43 - 9:44(Laughter)
-
9:44 - 9:46fashionable sisterhood ...
-
9:46 - 9:47(Laughter)
-
9:47 - 9:49and cultural pride at all ages.
-
9:49 - 9:51Stories of everyday women
-
9:51 - 9:55whose stories have been knowingly omitted
from our national and global histories. -
9:55 - 9:59And oftentimes in museums,
you see women represented by clothing -
9:59 - 10:01or portraits or photography ...
-
10:03 - 10:06but impactful, life-changing stories
from everyday women -
10:06 - 10:08can also look like
this Esmeraldan boat seat. -
10:10 - 10:12Esmeraldas, Ecuador
was a maroon community. -
10:13 - 10:16Its dense rainforest protected
indigenous and African populations -
10:16 - 10:18from Spanish colonizers.
-
10:18 - 10:19There are roads now,
-
10:19 - 10:23but there are some parts inland
that are still only accessible by canoe. -
10:23 - 10:27Débora Nazareno frequently traveled
those Ecuadorian waterways by canoe, -
10:27 - 10:29so she had her own boat seat.
-
10:29 - 10:32Hers personalized
with a spiderweb and a spider, -
10:32 - 10:35representing Anansi,
a character in West African folklore. -
10:37 - 10:41Débora also sat on this seat at home,
telling stories to her grandson, Juan. -
10:42 - 10:44And this intangible ritual of love
-
10:44 - 10:47in the form of
intergenerational storytelling -
10:47 - 10:49is common in communities
across the African diaspora. -
10:50 - 10:54And this everyday act sparked in Juan
the desire to collect and preserve -
10:54 - 10:58over 50,000 documents related
to Afro-Indian culture. -
11:00 - 11:03In 2005, Juan García Salazar,
Débora's grandson, -
11:04 - 11:07and by now a world-renowned
Afro-Ecuadorian scholar, -
11:07 - 11:09traveled to Washington, D.C.
-
11:10 - 11:13He met with Lonnie Bunch,
the director of the museum where I work, -
11:13 - 11:15and toward the end of their conversation,
-
11:15 - 11:19Juan reached into his bag and said,
"I'd like to give you a present." -
11:21 - 11:24On that day, Débora Nazareno's
humble wooden boat seat -
11:24 - 11:26became the very first object donated
-
11:26 - 11:30to the Smithsonian National Museum
of African-American History and Culture. -
11:31 - 11:36It is encased, displayed and has been seen
by almost five million visitors -
11:36 - 11:38from all over the world.
-
11:39 - 11:42I will continue to collect
from extraordinary historymakers. -
11:42 - 11:44Their stories are important.
-
11:45 - 11:49But what drives me to show up
today and every day -
11:49 - 11:52is the simple passion to write
our names in history, -
11:52 - 11:55display them publicly for millions to see
-
11:55 - 11:58and walk in the ever-present
light that is woman. -
11:59 - 12:00Thank you.
-
12:00 - 12:06(Applause and cheers)
- Title:
- Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary
- Speaker:
- Ariana Curtis
- Description:
-
Who deserves to be in a museum? For too long, the answer has been "the extraordinary" -- those aspirational historymakers who inspire us with their successes. But those stories are limiting, says museum curator Ariana Curtis. In a visionary talk, she imagines how museums can more accurately represent history by honoring the lives of people both extraordinary and everyday, prominent and hidden -- and amplify diverse perspectives that should have always been included.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:19
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary | ||
Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary | ||
Leslie Gauthier edited English subtitles for Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary |