In March, Deirdre Smith's article, "A Wider View: Amie Siegel's Panorama and the Role of Contemporary Art in Natural History Museum Critique and Practice" was published in the journal Curator. The article is a "Reflective Analysis" inspired by Amie Siegel's 2023 artist's film and Forum Gallery installation at Carnegie Museum of Art, which drew on archival footage shot by Carnegie Museum of Natural History employees during expeditions and diorama construction projects in the 1930s-1970s. In the article, Smith analyzes the film, shares details of the research, staff conversations and student engagements that followed from the installation, and situates the installation in current debates in natural history museums, arguing for both the unique potential of contemporary art within these debates, but also the inherent frictions of such collaborations.
Read the full article in here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cura.70030
Read Deirdre Smith's faculty profile here: https://haa.pitt.edu/people/deirdre-madeleine-smith