Mining the Museum : An Installation by Fred Wilson

Description

Tent. Baltimore, The Contemporary, 04-04-1992, 28-02-1993. - To demonstrate how museums ignore or misrepresent the cultural contributions and history of blacks and Native Americans, New York installation artist Fred Wilson recently "mined" the Maryland Historical Society's collection (with that institute's cooperation) to create a powerful exhibit. His startling juxtapositions, recreated in this remarkable catalogue, include a Ku Klux Klan hood nestled in a turn-of-the-century baby carriage and iron slave shackles alongside a fine silver tea set. Wilson, a conceptual artist of African American and Carib descent, has rearranged and labeled marble portrait busts, reward posters for runaway slaves, cigar-store Indians with backs turned to the viewer, doll houses and other artifacts. This highly provocative album argues for a more open, inclusive relationship between cultural institutions and the communities they serve