The Easel

3rd May 2022

National Gallery of Art enters new, overdue era with African diaspora show

Why do we know about the achievements of the 17th century Dutch “Golden Age” but not the African diaspora that, via slavery, was intertwined with Dutch history? A “landmark” show at Washington’s National Gallery tries to correct this exclusion and is full of “arresting moments”. Can such institutions use their “scholarly and curatorial superstructure” to tell such diverse stories together? “Think “histories” instead of “History.””