SILENCED DIVERSITY
©Andrea Zapanta Scharf
-by Tayla Myree
Institution (n)
an organization founded for a religious, educational, professional, or social purpose.
Diversity (n)
the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.
Source: Oxford Languages
Exclusion (n)
Shutting from a place, a society, etc., debarring from privilege, omitting from a category, from consideration, etc; an instance of the same.
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
In the West, institutions, especially those relating to arts and culture, have been challenged to end their exclusionary practices and introduce “diversity” to their institutions. Depending on the locality of the institution, differing forms of diversity ranging from gender, race, socio-economic class, migration background, language, age, etc., have been demanded by those who’ve been traditionally excluded, especially from larger institutions. We also see this process taking place in Austria, where those a part of underrepresented communities here are critiquing the exclusive structures of institutions in the field of arts & culture. Some major institutions have decided to answer the call to “diversify”, specifically through their programming. Having a diverse range of people presented in programming (lectures, exhibitions, etc.) allows the institution to appear as if they are checking diversity off of their checklist. However, if we take a closer look, we will notice the cracks in the pavement.
First, let’s have a real talk about ‘diverse programming’.
Some curators and culture professionals believe that simply extending the invitation to underrepresented artists and scholars is enough, thus leaving a gap of unaddressed issues that often appear when additional reflection is not executed.
For example, it has often been my experience here in Austria that when I am at the museum opening for an artist of color, I, as well as my peers, are often over-policed by museum security and staff, whereas my white peers are able to navigate the space without issue. This likely comes as a result of biases that the staff hold, as well as the lack of outreach that these institutions do with non-white communities. Something I often wonder is if these museums and/or galleries are aware of these experiences and if they are actively discussed amongst their team, especially when they invite non-white artists and scholars to present their work.
Something else I often think about is the silencing of ideas, especially from those coming from underrepresented backgrounds. In recent years, there has been a performative embrace of ‘decoloniality’ and a host of invitations to practitioners who believe in decolonial theory & activism whose works are critiquing colonial frameworks not only within institutions but also colonial states. However, with the recent genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, we have seen cultural institutions distance themselves from artists and practitioners who advocate for an end to the Israeli apartheid system and the occupation of Palestinian territory. This appears hypocritical as there is an embrace of activist art and even an appropriation of the aesthetics of Global South movements. In Austria, I see this weird commercialization of activism and decoloniality, which approves of the aesthetics but not the practice.
Despite this often performative increase in “diverse” programming, we often don’t see this reflection of diversity amongst those employed at the institution or a meaningful shift in institutional policy to accommodate those coming from non-traditional backgrounds. In my experience, you are expected to assimilate to the institution as someone from a background that is traditionally not represented and who is discouraged from really challenging the structure itself. This demand for assimilation has been omnipresent in my experiences working with institutions here in Austria, which honestly struggle even having the basic checked box of a diverse employed staff.
I emphasize employment because often those specifically from racialized backgrounds who are bringing diverse perspectives that the institutions themselves benefit from oftentimes are not employed but are some form of external consultants who consistently have their knowledge extracted. They are frequently not seen as part of the institution and are normally summoned after the institution has been criticized for some sort of exclusionary practice. This can take shape in the form of inviting community members for coffee to offer unpaid consultancy under the guise of “we want to reach out to your community, how can we do that” and feeding off those communities’ desire to have representation. This exploitative approach is all too common here in Austria. Another form of this takes place through anti-racism workshops, albeit they are important; coming to do anti-racism workshops to an all-white team working in a museum or gallery seems reductive. What benefits do these workshops have if your workplace already excludes the presence of the group of people you seek to serve?
Having a consistent stream of external consultancy with no concrete plan to shift how your permanent team operates is not an implementation of diversity, but maintains structures of exclusion.
So what can be done?
My personal take is that if there is something you want to see in the world you have to create it, or assist in its creation. Those of us coming from marginalized backgrounds know the gap that must be filled and often have to learn the hard lesson that many of these institutions were not created to embrace us but to exclude us. I think it is important to create spaces that foundationally hold these values in mind, despite it being a difficult task because of a lack of funding and general resources. We often invest too much energy to improve institutions that do not plan on changing, and I genuinely believe that energy should be invested in our communities.
For those who are working apart of institutions with exclusionary practices, I encourage you to do your job.
Those that are doing work in institutions of art and culture, especially regarding curation, should operate with the mindset of “care”. You must look into the ways in which your curatorial practice can expand to embrace audiences that are oftentimes neglected and excluded. Sometimes, this means being honest about your range and ability to execute this and encouraging the institution to provide financial resources to hire those who are capable of executing programming that you don’t have the expertise in executing. It is important that the cycle of unpaid labor from marginalized communities ends and that you don’t participate in this exploitative practice.
I know that this is an ongoing process and that it will take quite a while before arts & culture institutions become spaces for everyone, but I still believe it’s worth executing.
Tayla Myree is a visual artist, poet, and historian based in Vienna, Austria. Her work deals with the politics of memory and identity primarily in relation to Blackness as well as other marginalized identities. She explores these topics through the mediums of film, photography, prose, and sound. Tayla currently holds a Masters Degree in Comparative History from Central European University and is a part of the Video and Video Installation Studio at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.