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Overview
In the past, museums glorified wealth and validated authority. But today, pressure groups frequently mobilize either to force their own perspective upon museum walls, or to prevent opposing opinions from being expressed. Exhibition controversies are similar to "tagged genes": They are markers for critical conditions, but not the cause of them. In Displays of Power, Steven C. Dubin examines the most controversial exhibitions of the 1990s. These include shows about ethnicity, slavery, Freud, the Old West, and the dropping of the atomic bomb by the Enola Gay. Some of these exhibitions challenged standard narratives, while others were faulted for failing to do so. Drawing directly upon interviews with many key combatants: museum administrators, community activists, curators, and scholars, Displays of Power authoritatively analyzes these episodes of America struggling to redefine itself in the late twentieth century.Editorials
From the Publisher
"Fascinating. . . Walking the fine line of consultation versus freedom of thought is an issue for every curator, every director. If this book is not on your shelf you are missing one of the key maps to the territory in which you travel."
-Museum National, Aug. 2001,
"Dubin's book thoughtfully examines all facets of the Brooklyn confrontation without assigning blame. Instead, he gives us a case study that we can learn from."
-Muse,
"A signal contribution to the 'culture wars,' Dubin dispassionately examines the contemporary American museum as a battleground for the control of expression where elitist and populist camps clash over politically sensitive art. . . . His provocative study gives voice to curators and partisans on all points of the spectrum, making his book something of a lively free-for-all. . . . Cogently demonstrates that modern museums are crucibles for change rather than pleasant refuges, and that they are expanding the public's awareness that we live in an increasingly multicultural society and a multinational world."
-Publishers Weekly,
"A lively and insightful new book. . . . Using an evenhanded journalistic approach and remarkably revealing interviews, Dubin documents how the institutions, run by idealistic and politically naive curators and exploited by conservative opponents, were marred by allowing minor conflicts to blow up into front-page stories. . . . Show[s] that while museum may be adept at producing spectacular displays of propaganda, they are often incapable of predicting the reactions of their audiences."
-Artforum,
"A lively and insightful new book. . . . Using an evenhanded journalistic approach and remarkably revealing interviews, Dubin documents how the institutions, run by idealistic and politically naive curators and exploited by conservative opponents, were marred by allowing minor conflicts to blow up into front-page stories. . . . Show[s] that while museum may be adept at producing spectacular displays of propaganda, they are often incapable of predicting the reactions of their audiences."
-Artforum,