Curators' Roundtable on Photography Donations and the 21st-Century Museum
Thursday, December 8, 9 AM PST / 12 noon EST / 5 PM GMT
Two institutional case studies, from the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) and LACMA / Brooklyn Museum, will explore how curators think about and contextualize permanent collections in ways that will resonate with audiences, advance the institution’s mission, and open further interpretive possibilities.
Stephanie Tung, the Byrne Family Curator of Photography at the Peabody Essex Museum, will discuss her exhibition, Power and Perspective: Early Photography in China (September 2022 – April 2023), featuring 130 photographs in dialogue with paintings, decorative arts, and prints drawn largely from PEM’s collections. Power and Perspective offers a vital reassessment of the colonial legacy of the medium. The exhibition concludes with new work from a virtual collaboration with emerging contemporary photographers from underrepresented groups in China. Tung discusses the ways in which encounters with historic photography collections—most of which are found outside of China—can generate new insights today.
Britt Salvesen, Curator and Head, Wallis Annenberg Photography Department and Prints & Drawings Department, and Drew Sawyer, Phillip Leonian and Edith Rosenbaum Leonian Curator at the Brooklyn Museum, will discuss the 2021 donation to LACMA and the Brooklyn Museum of the Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl Photography Collection, comprising photographs made by women artists born or working in Europe in the 21st century. The donation commits the two museums, as well as the donor, to augment the collection with new acquisitions over the next ten years. We will discuss how we hope to interrogate the key terms—photography, gender, and national identity—all of which are undergoing radical revision at this moment while remaining within the terms of the gift.
After the presentations, Corey Keller (independent curator) will engage the speakers in a moderated conversation and open the discussion to PN members in attendance.
Due to the sensitive nature of the discussion and to promote free dialogue, this event will not be recorded.
Photography Network membership is required to attend. To become a member, sign up here
Register here for the event on Thursday, December 8, 9 AM PST / 12 noon EST / 5 PM GMT.
Installation photograph, In the Now: Gender and Nation in Europe, Selections from the Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl Photography Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, November 14, 2021–February 13, 2022, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
This program is generously supported by the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation.