Abstract

Amid the 2020-2021 Black Lives Matter protests, the Whitney Museum in New York faced significant backlash for its handling of a controversial exhibition that many viewed as exclusionary and insensitive (MTlL Collective, 2018). This paper challenges the reader to view the Whitney Museum through an archival framing. Through four contemporary case studies, a proposition for more inclusive and equitable practices for the acquisition, archiving, and exhibition of art and material culture by minoritized people is centered, concluding with the value of Black archivists and curatorial staff in shaping discourse responsive to the contemporary moment and towards archival justice. The conversation concludes with practical examples for art educators and ways forward.

Keywords: archive, public pedagogy, social movements, art museum, curatorial practice, archival justice, embodied archive

How to Cite:

Robinson, K., (2025) “Collective actions: A response to the Whitney Museum of Art and a case for Black archival and aesthetic practices as movement building”, Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education 42(1), 43-60. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/jcrae.7517