A triennial in Wisconsin — organized by the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) with historic ambitions of being among the first in the state to explicitly feature Black women and nonbinary artists — is fraying under the weight of criticisms of negligence and “institutional racist violence.” At least 11 of 23 exhibiting artists have withdrawn their works in protest. An open letter published online and co-signed by a collective of artists associated with the triennial accused MMoCA of “institutional racist violence” and “shameful mistreatment of the Black artists, contractors, and staffers throughout the exhibition.” The artists ask for leadership to issue a formal apology, offer financial restitution to injured parties, and terminate MMoCA Director Christina Brungardt.
For artists, signs of disarray appeared as early as September 2021, not long after they were invited to participate by Fatima Laster, the show’s curator. Laster’s proposed theme for the exhibition, Ain’t I A Woman?, was inspired by the Black feminist thought and work of Sojourner Truth and bell hooks. Her aim was to spotlight the underappreciated contributions Black women artists have made especially in Wisconsin to art, something she said was “seldom done.” Laster, a Black woman and the owner of an art gallery in Milwaukee, is the first guest curator the triennial has brought on in its 43-year history, a move that organizers made with the intention of bringing “an innovative, inclusive vision and a transformative approach to a cornerstone of MMoCA’s exhibition programming.”
But artists and community members caught wind of the possibility that there was internal disagreement over Laster’s appointment among board members. In September last year, they penned a letter to leadership in support of the guest curator. “Laster’s selection is groundbreaking because she is a self-identified Black woman who is unapologetically committed to the survival, adoration, and historical acknowledgment of BIPOC people (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), especially Black women,” a group of 20 people wrote.
With Laster’s role in the exhibition applauded by many in the community, preparations were underway and many artists excitedly anticipated the opening. According to Emily Leach, a participating artist who spoke with Hyperallergic, it “was made out to be a really historic moment for the museum. It was the first time that the triennial was organized by a guest curator, and it was the first time that it was curated by a Black woman, and it was the first time that it was focusing exclusively on Black women in Wisconsin — Black women as inclusive of gender non-conforming folks as well.”
