May 14, 2021 • View in browser

Good morning. ☀️

Today, the Met Museum unveiled a land acknowledgment plaque, Turner Prize nominees accuse Tate of “exploitative practices,” and I write about a new documentary by Popular Front that’s part of a rising wave of reporting being produced by indie war journalists.

— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief

Why We Need Unconventional Public Art Now More Than Ever

Art in Odd Places’ public art and performance festival NORMAL is a clap-back to any appeal to returning to the previous status quo.

J. Faith Almiron

What's Happening

A land acknowledgment plaque at the facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (image courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has installed a plaque on its Fifth Avenue facade acknowledging that it sits on indigenous Lenape land.
Black Obsidian Sound System, one of five collectives shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize, issued a statement accusing Tate of “exploitative practices.”
Wake Forest students selected works by Salman Toor and Zanele Muholi for the university’s art collection.

Art & Film

The Raw DIY Documentaries Transforming Journalism

Jake Hanrahan of Popular Front is part of a new wave of war reporters making their own documentaries and podcasts to offer us a candid look at conflicts around the world.

Hrag Vartanian

Artists Channel the Collaborative Ethos of New York's Lower East Side

A nod to the arts and culture anti-establishment nonprofit, A Gathering of the Tribes, Housing gallery’s latest exhibition emphasizes the interdisciplinary.

Annabel Keenan

The “Magic Eye” of a Camera Captures Rural Life Under Quarantine

Made in the early days of the pandemic, Alice Rohrwacher’s short Four Roads watches her neighbors adjust to new domestic routines.

Madeleine Seidel

From the Archives

The Story Behind a Misunderstood Satanic Monument

When Confederate memorials began to be toppled in June of last year, far-right organizations called for the destruction of the Satanic Temple’s bronze statue of Baphomet. Here’s why that didn’t make sense.

Billy Anania