PAST: Special Talk "hide/SPEAK" with David C. Ward, Curator of "Hide/Seek" exhibit at the NPG, at DC JCC, 6:30pm - 8:30pm Free with RSVP

"hide/SPEAK: An evening with the Curator of the "Hide/Seek" exhibit, David C. Ward - this is the exhibit that was recently censored on view now at the National Portrait Gallery

Tonight! Monday, December 20th

6:30pm - 8:30pm

Free with RSVP

I'm looking forward to being there tonight!

Hide/Seek co-curator David C. Ward will discuss the events that lead up to the Smithsonian’s removal of the video "Fire in my Belly" (screen shot pictured above) from the exhibition, the events that have unfolded since the video was pulled, the social and political implications of the situation, and how we as a community – in all definitions and configurations of “community” – view this particular moment.

The DC JCC in collaboration with writer & activist Catherine V. Dawson and Transformer will hold a conversation with David C. Ward along with Tyler Green, Editor and Writer, Modern Art Notes; U.S. Columnist, Modern Painters - Victoria Reis, co-Founder, Executive & Artistic Director, Transformer - and Dafna Steinberg, artist; Director, Ann Loeb Bronfmann Gallery at the DCJCC. The evening will be facilitated by Catherine Dawson & Joshua Ford.

Some background:

"On October 29, 2010, Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, the first major museum exhibition to explore themes of gender and sexuality in American art, opened at the National Portrait Gallery. On December 1st, artist David Wojanrowicz's 1987 video work A Fire in my Belly - which was intended to articulate, among other things, the silencing and suffering of people with AIDS - was pulled from the exhibition by the director of the Smithsonian Institution. after Congressional leaders threatened them with funding cuts/ These congressional leaders were backed by Catholic groups who had taken offense to 11 seconds of the video which showed ants crawling on a crucifix." from DC JCC event post.

See the controversial video - "Fire in my Belly" by David Wojnarowicz - that was removed from the exhibit HERE! It's just over 4 minutes long.

In protest of the Smithsonian’s decision, numerous art galleries and institutions have been screening the banned video. Additional responses in the form of screenings, displays of Wojanrowicz’s other works, art actions, and conversations have now developed across the country, touching on all of the many issues that have arisen as part of this censorship. In my opinion, I find this also to be an interesting time for with all of the conversations about bullying which is happening to a lot of LGBTQ kids and teens in schools - especially because this exhibit highlights works from gay and lesbian artists - and is the first of it's kind. It's like Art, Bullying and Censorship.

hide/SPEAK, which is presented as part of DCJCC’s Rapid Response series (a program of the 16th Street J’s Department of Dialogues and Public Affairs which periodically provides a forum, as public events warrant, to shape a quick, civil discussion on ideas that have immediate cultural relevance) and Transformer's "Framework" talk series.

The Washington DC Jewish Community Center

1529 16th Street, NW (16th & Q St)

Metro: take the S2 or S4 bus straight there from anywhere along 16th St - McPherson Sq Metro or U St and walk to 16th - or walk about ten minutes or so from Dupont Circle Metro, Q St exit.