During this pivotal time of civil unrest—and the continued questioning of monuments dedicated to conquest, supremacy, and subjugation—interdisciplinary visual artists Kenyatta A. C. Hinkle and Lava Thomas discuss dismantling the hegemonic factors within public art selection and looking at who determines what is “monumental.” They unpack the problematic elements within public art commissions and artwork removal, and the lifelong impact that cycles of commissioning have upon communities. How do monuments impact the geographies where they are placed? What narratives do they continually assert? How does one create a monument that begins to balance the scales of history? How do we reimagine the possibilities for monuments in the face of insistence upon historical amnesia / purposeful forgetting?

Thomas’s practice amplifies ideas that center visibility, resilience, and empowerment in the face of erasure, trauma, and oppression. Her oeuvre spans drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, and installation, exploring the events, figures, and movements that inform and shape our individual and collective histories.

Hinkle is an interdisciplinary visual artist, writer, and performer whose practice encompasses collaborations, participatory projects, and intimate works linked to historical events and contexts. She is currently an assistant professor of painting in UC Berkeley’s Department of Art Practice.

This event is presented by UC Berkeley’s Department of Art Practice and the Wiesenfeld Visiting Artist Series. 

Participants and topics are subject to change; visit Berkeley Arts + Design (artsdesign.berkeley.edu) for the most up-to-date series information.