The Evolution of an Anti-Lynching Exhibit: From Concept to Realization

This paper is less about the content of our exhibit, “Unmasked: Anti-Lynching Art and Public Community Remembrance in Indiana,” than it is about the long road from initial conceptualization to final display. The paper describes our long-term collaborative process, from the glimmer of the idea of creating an art exhibit based on the recreation of two historic competing exhibits to the final realization of what we call a “community-based art installation.” Along the way, we encountered numerous obstacles and learning processes, which considerably modified our vision and our final display. Topics considered include: From art exhibit to art installation, From museum to community, The process of public consultation, Facing community resistance, Racial politics of curation, The dilemmas of displaying racial violence/The trauma discourse, Mixing media, Open exhibit or guided tour, From installation to pop-up exhibit, and Response to the exhibition. The experience of the curators described in this paper will, we hope, aid other scholars in navigating the politics of bringing fraught issues of race, gender, sexuality, and violence to community audiences through new forms of public-facing scholarship. How do we speak to the public rather than to ourselves?