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Published on July 15, 2020
Emmalane Blake: "His Name was George Floyd"
The Art Gallery at Eastern Connecticut State University is presenting the virtual exhibition “Racism: An American Pandemic” on its website from July 15–Sept. 8.
“This exhibition of artistic voices is inspired by blatant systemic racism, police brutality, political outrage and resurgent white nationalism,” said Art Gallery Director Yulia Tikhonova.
With more than 20 visual and multi-media artists, poets and performers from the United States and abroad, “Racism: An American Pandemic” seeks to capture this moment in real time, through an intensive curation of the unprecedented online archiving of artistic responses to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
“The resurgence of BLM protests during the COVID-19 pandemic has made clear something we have failed to acknowledge until now — racism in America is a pandemic,” said Tikhonova. “By every standard of social well-being, Black Americans have been disproportionately disadvantaged. The number of lives lost or diminished over the past 400 years by virtue of this pandemic far exceeds that of COVID-19, yet after just a few months we have committed trillions of dollars to finding a cure for and treating COVID. We must make the same commitment to the cure for racism.”
“Racism: An American Pandemic” is a “rapid response” document, said Tikhonova, archiving calls for racial and social justice by offering the Eastern community a space to share emotions and opinions through art. “We especially want to highlight the role artists are playing as the vanguard in the struggle against racism,” said Tikhonova. “This exhibition also supports the efforts of Eastern’s student chapter of the NAACP to work toward greater equity and inclusion on campus.”
To view the virtual exhibition, visit https://www.easternct.edu/art-gallery/racism-an-american-pandemic.html. For more information, contact Tikhonova at tikhonovay@easternct.edu.
