A few weeks ago, I was honored by the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation with a Susan C. Larsen Lifetime Achievement Award. It was a big surprise, one that hit me with a jolt as it wasn’t something I expected, but greatly appreciated, because it is particularly meaningful when colleagues in your field recognize your contributions. Lucy Lippard was the other recipient of the same award, and by sheer coincidence, I was working on a podcast about her at the same time as the news emerged. That interview, which took place at her home in rural New Mexico, pushed me to think about how we often see our roles in the art community in isolation rather than as part of a continuum. Art critics and journalists who came before me, like Lucy, remind me that our challenges are intergenerational. I learned from that visit that our experiences had parallels, particularly in how we’ve both seen the machinations of the art market continue to frustrate attempts at reform. Even today, we feel the disconnect between those who refuse to see art as political and those of us who see it as an integral part of communities constantly fighting to break free of the confines imposed on them. Art, for all its complexity, refuses to stand still, and so do we. We recently marked Hyperallergic’s 15th anniversary with a spectacular drag performance extravaganza in October. It was a rare opportunity to celebrate Hyperallergic, which, I’m proud to say, has had an outsized impact on the field of contemporary art by refusing to look away from injustice and inequality. We love art and its unique role in society, but we know there is still a way to go. This past year, it has been particularly challenging to watch the art community struggle to acknowledge the ongoing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza, which have been documented by all major human rights organizations and international bodies including Amnesty International, B’tselem, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations. At a time when conversations around structural discrimination and racism have come to the fore, it is troubling to see how many people prefer to look away as people in Gaza and elsewhere endure the cruelty of a state that practices apartheid. Former US President Jimmy Carter passed away this week. He warned us about the realities of Israeli apartheid back in 2006 in his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, for which he was skewered by the American media, who refused to see the facts before them. Today, we have other authors, like Ta-Nehisi Coates, Rashid Khalidi, and Naomi Klein, who continue to bring attention to the reality, but change doesn’t happen fast enough. This month, Hyperallergic partnered with Jewish Currents, a leading Jewish-American publication, to present a timeline of many artworks that were censored as a result of artists’ stances on Palestine. We remain more committed than ever to bringing forward the voices being silenced elsewhere, even as the last contemporary art space was destroyed in Gaza in April, and artists continue to be killed in the daily onslaught by Israeli forces. We will continue to report on the injustice before us, regardless of the difficulties that might entail. We will be undeterred, even if retaliation against the media continues, as the National Writers Union has outlined, or as the Nation has reported. Or, as our colleagues at Jewish Currents report this month, as the withdrawal of funds by philanthropists imperils social justice movements. Hyperallergic has certainly not been immune to these funding realities either. Hyperallergic continues to exist only because of the support of the communities that read and value us. This year, our membership has continued to grow, reaching a record high of over 7,200 members — our most ever. Yes, thousands of readers believe in the power of journalism and art to reach a general audience eager for facts and informed opinions. We know that member support will be the only way to safeguard our work and ensure we can continue to report without fear or outside influence. This year, we also continued to increase the quality of our art, video, and book reviews, while adding more things to laugh about, including our inaugural Thanksgiving Stuffing issue that poked fun at a holiday that is as controversial as it is beloved. We also expanded our YouTube channel, where you can find all of our recent podcasts with video interviews and additional footage — this is just the latest platform we have engaged to ignite curiosity about art among online communities that might not otherwise have exposure to the work of artists who improve our lives and the world. Thank you to everyone who continues to support our work. Yesterday was co-founder Veken Gueyikian and my 16th wedding anniversary — we often joked that Hyperallergic would become our first child, and it has since matured into a boisterous 15-year-old publication. You can help us by becoming a member today and ensuring that the future of art is informed by independent journalism and not press releases and marketing copy, which is what so many art publications are nowadays. We pay our writers for their work, support our staff with benefits, ensure that underrepresented voices are heard, and continue to work daily toward justice. |
