Art & Morality with Michelle Hartney & Decolonize This Place

Guest host, Michelle Hartney rounds out her month-long dive into Art & Morality with Decolonize This Place. Decolonize This Place is an action-oriented collective of activists who stage protests in cultural institutions to open conversations related to Indigenous struggle, Black liberation, free Palestine, global wage workers and de-gentrification. In this episode, Michelle and Marz Saffore, along with, Amy Weng members of Decolonize This Place, discuss the practice of "art washing," who defines what art is or isn't, issues of display, and the responsibility museum and institutions have to hold their board members accountable for actions which go against their values.

Notably, at the time of this recording, Michelle and Decolonize This Place members debated the position of Warren B. Kanders as, then, Vice-Chairman at the Whitney Museum. Kanders company, Safariland, produces tear-gas canisters and other supplies used by the military and law enforcement. Safariland canisters have been used against unarmed migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, protestors in Ferguson, Missouri, Turkey’s Gezi Park, the Gaza Strip, Standing Rock in North Dakota, and, most recently, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Decolonize this Place has led the charge in protesting Kanders presence on the Museum's board hosting 9 weeks of art and action in the weeks leading up to the Whitney Biennial. Today, on July 25, 2019, Warren B. Kanders announced his resignation as Vice-Chairman at the Whitney.

- About Decolonize This Place -

Decolonize This Place is an action-oriented movement centering around Indigenous struggle, Black liberation, free Palestine, global wage workers and de-gentrification. Facilitated by MTL+ Collective. #decolonizethisplace

Learn more at https://www.decolonizethisplace.org/

Follow them @decolonizethisplace