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The Cyber Arte Exhibition: A Curator's Journey Through Community
and Controversy
When the exhibition CyberArte: Tradition meets Technology
opened at the Museum of International Folk Art in Sajita
Fe on February 25th' 2001, a tremendous amount of
press had already been written in such publications as American
Art, Art and Antiques, Hispanic Magazine, and the Santa
Fe New Mexican. The reviews, prior to opening day, praised
this small exhibition of less then 600 square feet for the
cutting edge show that it was meant to be-- and that it was.
Few of them mentioned the now famous digital collage by Alma
Lopez titled Our Lady.
This
paper will address many issues of institutional representation
multiple communities, and identity politics with specific
examples from the "Our Lady Controversy" as well
as discuss what worked in the complex situation and what didn't.
Taxpayer
funded institutions, church versus state, first amendment
rights, censorship and self-censorship, gender, sexuality,
and class, as well as who had the right to use the Guadalupe
image, rose quickly to the surface. Even the Archbishop of
Santa Fe voiced his opinion in the press.
This
paper will address many issues of institutional representation
multiple communities, and identity politics with specific
examples from the "Our Lady Controversy" as well
as discuss what worked in the complex situation and what didn't.
Copyright © 2003
Smithsonian Institution |
