Bellwether Arts + Experience 2021-Swallowing Silence: A discussion on Power and Censorship in the Arts

Date and Time for this Past Event

• Friday, Sep 10, 2021  1pm - 3pm

Location

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Details

Censorship and particularly the silencing of cultural expression is not confined to dictatorships. Whether in autocratic or democratic countries, cultural institutions and spaces have also waged attacks against art and creative expression.

This panel features artists Anida Yoeu Ali and Erin Shigaki in conversation with one another as they discuss institutional accountability to artistic censorship and erasure. The discussion is moderated by Ploi Pirapokin and highlights both artists’ histories with controversy as Asian American artists who have centered their histories and identities within their art practice. Ali and Shigaki will reflect on the ways in which power and authority have enacted racial trauma through cultural silencing that has deeply impacted their communities.

Framing questions include:

• What is the state of art censorship today and its implications for artists, curators and the public at large?

• How can institutions authentically transform controversy into a learning moment that actively engages social change?

• Can cultural institutions regain the artist’s trust of that of their communities after racially traumatizing controversies?