At art museums, the approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion is increasingly twofold. While many are pursuing exhibitions and acquisitions focused on underrepresented artists, they are also finding new ways to exhibit art from the traditional canon, examining it from previously overlooked angles like the cultural context the artists worked in.
“All museums want to expand what has been the canon to have a more balanced program. It’s not either or, it’s yes and. We want to have a wider variety of voices and images. When we do exhibitions about historical figures like Matisse, of course we do them in a scholarly way with a sense of historical perspective. But we also must apply points of view that are informed by the questions of today.”
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, business-as-usual gets a rethink. This article is part of our latest special section on Museums, which focuses on new artists, new audiences and new ways of thinking about exhibitions. Winslow Homer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Jasper Johns and Edward Hopper at the Whitney.
