Raquel Wilson-Sow is an independent curator, anthropologist and cultural strategist that explores the mutation of visual and performing arts across cultures.
All Shook Up! Protecting Art in an Earthquake
“When you look at sculpture in the Getty Museum’s galleries, you wouldn’t guess that some of the pedestals are somewhat unusual. Under their polished veneer, they’re engineered to protect art from the movements caused by earthquakes.
Many museums in California and other parts of the world, including Italy, Greece, and Japan, are located in areas prone to seismic activity—and their collections have suffered a great deal as a result. The Getty has devised pioneering mechanisms that safely stabilize vulnerable artworks.
Working closely with our conservators, we created this animation demonstrating technology the Museum uses to mitigate earthquake damage to vulnerable objects. How do the earth’s movements during an earthquake affect intrinsically unstable works of art? And what can be done to protect them? Hold onto your seats and watch.”
Too late for Italy, alas…
Photographic Heritage: Who Owns the Memories of "Before"?
All over Africa there is a certain revival of an industry of culture and memory, or perhaps even the cult of memory. And perhaps that’s good news.
When Art Grows Genitals
Does the grammatical gender of nouns in an artist’s native language enable us to predict how those artists will personify things in their art?
