Forging New Museological and Historical Narratives—Art Museums & the Legacies of the Dutch Slave
“De-centering/Re-centering: Forging New Museological and Historical Narratives” is the second session of “Art Museums and the Legacies of the Dutch Slave Trade: Curating Histories, Envisioning Futures,” presented by the Center for Netherlandish Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, 波士頓, the Harvard Art Museums, and Harvard University’s Department of History of Art and Architecture. This four-part program explores efforts by art museums to deploy their spaces and their collections—which are often enmeshed with colonialism and exploitation—to present more complete narratives of and perspectives on slavery and its legacies.
This session brings together historians and art historians whose work has, on the one hand, been grounded in art museum collections and, on the other, challenged traditional museological narratives of slavery’s legacies.
SPEAKERS:
+ “Visualizing Slave War” with Vincent Brown, Charles Warren Professor of American History, Professor of African and African American Studies, and Founding Director of the History Design Studio, Harvard University;
+ “Shedding Light on a Not So Hidden Past: Changing Perspectives on Slavery in the Dutch Empire” with Pepijn Brandon, Assistant Professor of Economic and Social History, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Senior Researcher, International Institute of Social History;
+ “Reflections on the Black Servant in 17th-Century Dutch Art and History” with Elmer Kolfin, Assistant Professor, University of Amsterdam;
+ “Blackness | Representation” with Claudia Swan, Mark Steinberg Weil Professor of Art History & Archaeology, Washington University in St. 路易斯;
+ “Dutch Slave Trade in Africa: Insights from Historic West African Art” with Suzanne Preston Blier, Allen Whitehill Clowes Professor of Fine Arts and Professor of African and African American Studies, Harvard University;
+ Welcome by Martha Tedeschi, Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director, Harvard Art Museums;
+ Introductions by Kéla Jackson, Ph.D. 候選人, Department of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University.
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK:
+ Watch the full series of videos from “Art Museums and the Legacies of the Dutch Slave Trade: Curating Histories, Envisioning Futures:” https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjiqsPexHHIKNBxGh49Rs8Ug8XQLTfGiC.
+ Erwin de Vries, National Monument for the Dutch Involvement in Slavery, 2002. Photo Martin Alberts, 2007. Stadsarchief, 阿姆斯特丹, 010122054812: https://bit.ly/3isB5oE.
+ Vincent Brown, “Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War,” https://www.newframe.com/vincent-brown-on-slave-rebellions-and-american-war/
+ Exhibition—“Black in Rembrandt’s Time” at the Rembrandt House Museum, 阿姆斯特丹: https://bit.ly/3zUFJRX.
+ Jan Mijtens, “Portrait of Maria of Orange (1642-1688), with Hendrik van Nassau-Zuylestein (d. 1673) and a Servant,” c. 1665. Oil on canvas. 莫瑞泰斯, The Hague. https://bit.ly/2V4ROoO.
+ Titus Kaphar, “Shifting the Gaze,” 2017. Oil on canvas. 布魯克林博物館. William K. Jacobs Jr., Fund, 2017.34. © Titus Kaphar. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/224267.
+ William Villalongo. “Mothership Connection,” 2020. Acrylic, cut velour, pigment print collage. © William Villalongo. https://www.inglettgallery.com/artists/william-villalongo.
+ Ivory hip mask of Idia, mother of Oba Esigie, 16世紀. Ivory, 鐵, and copper alloy. 大英博物館, Af1910,0513.1. https://bit.ly/2V6FT9R.
—
Recorded April 16, 2021. © President and Fellows of Harvard College. For questions related to permission for commercial use of this video, please contact the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources at am_divr@harvard.edu.