Born in Zanzibar, east Africa, Himid moved to Britain as a child in the 1960s. She grew up in London, where she studied theatre design at Wimbledon College of Art before receiving a master’s degree in cultural history from the Royal College of Art. Her thesis, ‘Young Black Artists in Britain Today’ (1984), was founded, as she has explained, on ‘the absolute conviction that black people could be important artists’, at the time, ‘the maddest and most impossible idea imaginable’.
每日归档: 2018-01-07
22 篇
Over the past year, protest has taken many forms, from marches to online petitions; personal opinions and grievances broadcast on social media. One of the most interesting manifestations of protest in 2017 has been the wide range of open letters, to and from individuals and groups, expressing outrage, dismay or disgust and demanding concrete results. These missives have a historic precedent in ‘J’accuse…!’, a letter from novelist Émile Zola to French President Félix Faure, published on the front page of the newspaper ‘L’Aurore’ on 13 January 1898. In it, Zola accused the French government of anti-Semitism in jailing French army officer Alfred Dreyfus for espionage, and demanded his release. It took eight years of personal, political and legal battle, but Dreyfus’s conviction was eventually annulled. Today’s letter writers are equally passionate and intent on change, but in many cases, the changes they are after are still a long way from being assured.
Close your eyes and imagine a city built entirely since the middle of the last century; one which rose from the wreck of war. Clusters of high-rise buildings are peppered with autumnal yellow ginkgo trees and separated by wide, glisteningly-clean main roads. The hallmarks of progress are manifest in the availability of consumer goods, a ‘can do’ outlook lubricated by lightning-fast wi-fi. Against all odds, and by any standards, Seoul has undergone a miraculous transformation since the Korean War (1950–53) left the South Korean capital in ruins.
Jens Hoffmann. Courtesy: Wikimedia CommonsNew York’s Jewish Museum has cut ties with curator Jens Hoffmann after carrying out an investigation into alleged sexual harassment of staff members. Hoffmann had earlier been suspended by the institution while it carried out a review of the allegations relating to Hoffmann’s time there. In a statement sent to frieze, the museum said: ‘The Jewish Museum has completed its review of the allegations regarding Jens Hoffmann and on 17 December 2017, terminated its relationship with him. As this is an internal and confidential matter, we will not be sharing further details.’ Hoffmann carried the title of director of special exhibitions and public programmes at the institution, which he has been with since 2012 (serving as deputy director until 2016). A number of other institutions moved to suspend their working relationships with Hoffmann at the beginning of the month, when the allegations came to light, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Mousse magazine and Buenos Aires’s Fundacíon Arte – they are yet to respond to the latest statement from the Jewish Museum. Lance Gotko, the lawyer representing Hoffmann, stated in early December that his client had not subjected anyone at the Jewish Museum to sexual harassment.
2017 has provided so many occasions for feeling lost and for so much fumbling in the dark, that perhaps it’s not surprising that the artworks that have meant the most to me are full of shadows. So, in no particular order …
“噢 大自然” 在自然灾害频发的2017年里，拉丁美洲最好的一些展览是试图理解我们生存的环境。 In a year marked by natural disasters, some of the best exhibitions in Latin America were attempts to make sense of the environment
Melissa Gronlund on the best of a bad year: from activists in Jakarta, images of Mecca and labour negotiations in the UAE
Berlin-based DJ and producer M.E.S.H. (James Whipple) on the books, events and music that made his year
