“Shadows, RISD Museum’s 14th issue of Manual, is a companion to the exhibition. Copies can be purchased at the museum entrance, with related proceeds being donated to the RI Solidarity Fund. Activate the QR code below for a digital preview and related reading list. The full issue can also be downloaded at no charge by people who identify as Black, of Black African descent, or members of the African diaspora.”
What do we make of these efforts for museums to be more inclusive of historically underrepresented groups? Even though people who identify as Black, of Black African descent, or members of the African diaspora are able to download the companion to the exhibition, they still have to have the means to afford the price of admission to the museum itself.
It’s interesting to identify the assumptions that are made by these gestures. To assume that the barrier(s) to participation are cost, I think rests on a mental model of Black museum-goers as unable to pay or seeking/needing free resources.
I wonder a) how many people take them up on this and b) whether there are other possible strategies to encourage participation that might not create this power dynamic of Black people “getting something” for free.
Also, what am I missing in posing these questions in this way? What additional questions might you ask?
