At a time when higher education leaders are facing relentless criticism over their handling of free speech and political protests, 10 university museums have planned nonpartisan shows focused on democracy, with the goal of getting students more engaged.
Exhibitions involving racial justice, the climate crisis and other timely issues are nothing new, but a collaboration like this is unusual.
The universities, all large and public, began discussing how to join forces several years ago, said Christina Olsen, director of the University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor and one of the drivers of the alliance.
The main exhibition for the year at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon in Eugene focuses on political violence throughout Latin America. “Necroarchivos de las Americas: An Unrelenting Search for Justice,” running June 15 to Dec. 8, the show “offers a cautionary warning about what could happen when the rule of law breaks down,” said John Weber, the museum’s executive director.
While some of the art is indirect, some is very pointed, such as “Leftovers” by Luis Camnitzer, a German-born artist: 80 cardboard boxes wrapped in surgical bandages, leaking fake blood and inscribed with Roman numerals and the word “leftover,” a reflection on political repression and torture in Latin America, particularly in his adopted country, Uruguay.
