The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York has apologized to British-Ghanaian multidisciplinary artist Heather Agyepong after security asked her to leave an exhibition. The artist recounted his experience of visiting the installation black naps on Twitter on Saturday, March 25, calling it ironic that he was asked to leave a facility created to encourage black people to rest.
According to Agyepong’s post, the conflict began when she noticed a white woman laughing loudly in the second-floor creativity lab of MoMA’s Department of Education. Agyepong says she approached the woman and said, “I think this space is black-centric.” The woman reportedly started shouting that Agyepong “was aggressive” and “should be kicked out” before complaining to a security guard who forced Agyepong to leave. (Agyepong has not yet responded to Hyperallergic request for comment.)
On view at MoMA through May 14, artists Navild Acosta and Fannie Sosa’s black naps intends to recover the concept of rest and rest for black people. Studies show that black Americans get less sleep than white Americans, and that the sleep that black Americans manage to get is not as restorative. THE sculptural installation explores reparations by encouraging black people to interact with imaginative space and use its Traveling library library to learn more about “the politics of rest and denial”.
MoMA did not respond to Hyperallergicrequest for comment. In a statement provided to The arts journalthe museum said it plans to work with the facility’s organizers in the future to “protect the experiences of Black visitors and visitors from Indigenous communities and communities of color.”
Some have commented that the incident reveals long-standing issues with how white institutions incorporate black artwork into galleries and collections. The incident was puzzling for Los Angeles-based curator and writer Ikechukwu Casmir Onyewuenyi, who in a Twitter thread asked if the museum had any infrastructure in place to protect the installation and its target audience, especially account held from the creators of Black Power Naps, Acosta and Sosa, have expertise in structural racism training for cultural institutions.
“I wonder if @MuseumModernArt and security got ‘The White Institution’s Guide to Welcoming Artists of Color and Their Audiences,'” Onyewuenyi wrote.
Sosa wrote the guide Onyewuenyi is referring to, which sets the parameters for how museums and other institutions can ethically engage with the work of artists of color. In the guideSosa writes, “One of the important things to consider when hosting artists of color and their audiences is the kind of infrastructure needed to support the event.”
“What happened to Heather is a nightmare,” Acosta said. Hyperallergic. Acosta and Sosa confirmed that the museum had apologized to Agyepong.
Since MoMA invited the duo, Acosta and Sosa have worked with the Department of Education to implement their black naps readiness training, including racial sensitivity training for front desk and backroom staff and a social media campaign. Sosa and Acosta had hoped to lessen the violence they and members of the black audience experienced at the installation, which organizers said brought 100 people an hour to MoMA’s creativity lab. (The room capacity is 100 people.)
Until this incident, the artists say the museum ignored their concerns about potential violence. But now, Sosa says they’re working with MoMA to put together a justice framework for the show’s final weeks.
“We need to be able to put the most vulnerable people at the center and center their voices and their needs,” Acosta said. “And in this case, Heather [Agyepong] is part of the community we seek to represent in this space. I would say his voice should have centered on all of that.
