Sure, museums are meant to take us to a different time, a different place, a different world; but when they respond to current events, they remind us how important freedom is.
On Thursday, in response to President Donald Trump’s ban on Muslims, the Museum of Modern Art, installed several works by artists from some of the nations whose citizens are affected by the ban.
According to the NY Times, “Seven works by artists such as the Sudanese painter Ibrahim el-Salahi, the Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid, and the Los Angeles-based Iranian video artist Tala Madani, were installed Thursday night in MoMA’s fifth-floor galleries, replacing seven works by Picasso, Matisse and Picabia, among other Western artists.”
Late last year, at the MoMA, I had the pleasure of seeing Faith Ringgold’s American People Series #20: Die, which made me very emotional. Meant to evoke the race riots of the 1960s, it catapulted me back to a time when men were hated for the color of their skin. But what made it so emotional was that decades later, nothing has changed. That painting represents the society we live in today.
Instead of getting better, it has only gotten worse and has extended to religion and sex. I can’t wait to visit the MOMA to see its new collection.
Will you be visiting too?