Ariana Curtis: Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary
Ariana Curtis: Los museos deben honrar lo cotidiano, no solo lo extraordinario
Ariana A. Curtis gets to research, collect, interpret and display objects and stories that help tell the history of all of us and our connections to each other. Full bio
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de las mujeres importan.
our public representations of women
públicas de las mujeres
of the extraordinary.
de lo extraordinario.
en convertirse en millonaria
to become a self-made millionaire:
of the United States ...
damas de los Estados Unidos...
de EE. UU. por el partido demócrata...
presidential nomination --
are so seductive.
son tan seductoras.
are inspiring and aspirational.
inspiradoras y tienen aspiraciones.
is nonrepresentative.
no es representativo.
que incorpore la historia de las mujeres,
for incorporating women's history,
our daily realities.
that radical notion
colectivamente esa idea básica
women as people are:
a las mujeres como personas:
a lo largo de la historia,
but as a matter of fact.
si no como un hecho.
representation of human life,
más precisa de la vida humana,
las experiencias cotidianas
the quotidian experiences
identified as female on this planet.
mujeres en este planeta.
from the "Black Panther" movie,
de la película "Pantera Negra",
da una explicación equivocada
explains an artifact
que vemos en la imagen,
character seen here,
real debates in our museum communities
debates reales dentro del museo
and the bias that those narratives hold.
a las narrativas y qué sesgo tienen.
of information in the United States,
de información de los Estados Unidos,
from all over the world,
de visitantes de todo el mundo,
from within museums themselves
hay un movimiento
that museums are not neutral.
los museos no son neutrales.
de arte y objetos,
and foster inclusion,
y fomentar la inclusión,
of historical misrepresentation.
de la tergiversación histórica.
have left our herstories hidden.
han dejado ocultas nuestras historias.
about being a woman,
de color en este sector,
in this industry,
inclusivos de la vida de las mujeres.
inclusive examples of women's lives.
some 60 percent of museum staffs.
cerca del 60 % del personal del museo.
las mujeres son desoladores...
for women are bleak --
does not in and of itself guarantee
no garantiza en sí misma
public representation.
la igualdad de género.
theorist bell hooks,
teórica bell hooks,
the fight for gender equity.
la lucha por la igualdad de género.
the importance of intersectionality.
de la interseccionalidad.
celebrated voices of the 20th century,
más reconocidas del siglo XX,
collected her 1939 outfit.
el atuendo que usó en 1939.
de la Revolución norteamericana
the American Revolution denied her access
de la Constitución por ser negra,
because she was black,
on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial,
en el Monumento a Lincoln,
de 75 000 personas.
including museums,
incluyendo museos,
1982 anthology, entitled
antología de 1982, titulada
representación femenina
of women's representation
Afro-Latinas like me ...
afrolatinas como yo,
or Asian women, or Native women,
asiáticas, ni mujeres nativas,
indocumentadas,
have helped incorporate perspectives
a incorporar perspectivas
through a Latino curatorial initiative
de una iniciativa de conservación latina
narratives across our institution.
latinas en toda nuestra institución.
American Women's History Initiative,
de la historia de la mujer estadounidense,
representations of women
representaciones de las mujeres
of our contemporary realities,
de nuestra realidad contemporánea,
representaciones históricas,
I can still walk into professional spaces
ocurrir que en espacios profesionales
the only black person,
la única persona negra,
la única latina,
and my father is Afro-Panamanian.
y mi padre es afropanameño.
inextricablemente, ambas cosas.
I'm one of very few.
afrolatina, soy una de muy pocas.
into the professional realm
al campo profesional
not always up for that challenge,
estuve preparada para ese reto,
or self-preservation.
o por instinto de conservación.
ya desarrollado para compartir.
comment to share.
or riffing off of colleagues.
o de improvisar con colegas.
my beloved hoop earrings
pendientes de aro en el trabajo
or unscholarly or unprofessional.
poco intelectuales o poco profesionales.
would react to my natural hair,
las personas a mi cabello natural,
or less authentic when I straightened it.
o menos auténtica cuando lo alisaba.
de las representaciones establecidas
of mainstream representations
just of our everyday being
básicos de nuestro ser cotidiano
of women as we are,
de las mujeres, tal como somos,
representation of myself or my work.
no auténtica de mí misma en el trabajo.
de aro en la oficina...
at my hoop earring in my office --
a Latino Heritage Month event.
a la apertura de un evento
the organization expressed concerns.
la organización expresó su preocupación.
a two-minute video affirming natural hair,
minutos que elogiaba el cabello natural,
to the learning process
en el proceso de aprendizaje
and performed by Elizabeth Acevedo,
y presentado por Elizabeth Acevedo,
2018 National Book Award winner,
del Premio Nacional de Literatura 2018,
Smithsonian exhibit that I curated.
del Smithsoniano que yo organicé.
of me and my work made me uncomfortable.
la que me sometieron a mí y a mi trabajo.
and idealized femininity
y la feminidad idealizada
toward successful and extraordinary
y se la ha equiparado a lo exitoso,
lo acreditado y lo deseable,
the regular, the underrepresented
lo regular, lo subrepresentado
to change that narrative.
el poder para cambiar esa narrativa.
objects and images of significance.
e imágenes con significado.
her costumes, her shoes,
a su colección su ropa, sus zapatos,
for symbolic contradictions.
las contradicciones simbólicas.
a una latina de piel negra,
which straighten your hair,
que alisan el cabello,
de la belleza blanca.
in oversized, chunky gold jewelry.
con enormes joyas de oro.
Instagrammed pieces,
with the everyday elements
que se conectaron de ese modo
morena, de sus rulos o de sus joyas.
or her jewelry.
incluyen a Celia Cruz,
of a young Harriet Tubman ...
de Harriet Tubman de joven,
the incomparable Oprah Winfrey.
la incomparable Oprah Winfrey.
of people see women
de personas ven a las mujeres
the first or the famous,
siempre al primero o al famoso,
a regular Saturday at the beauty salon,
un sábado normal en el salón de belleza,
from our national and global histories.
de las historias nacionales y mundiales.
you see women represented by clothing
mujeres representadas por ropas,
from everyday women
de las mujeres cotidianas
this Esmeraldan boat seat.
asiento de canoa de Esmeraldas.
was a maroon community.
una comunidad de cimarrones.
indigenous and African populations
los indígenas y las poblaciones africanas
that are still only accessible by canoe.
aún solo son accesibles en canoa.
those Ecuadorian waterways by canoe,
por esos canales ecuatorianos en canoa,
with a spiderweb and a spider,
y una araña,
a character in West African folklore.
del folclore africano occidental.
telling stories to her grandson, Juan.
para sentarse en su casa
intergenerational storytelling
across the African diaspora.
en toda la diáspora africana.
the desire to collect and preserve
el deseo de recoger y preservar
to Afro-Indian culture.
relacionados a la cultura indoafricana.
Débora's grandson,
el nieto Débora,
Afro-Ecuadorian scholar,
afroecuatoriano a nivel mundial
the director of the museum where I work,
el director del museo donde trabajo,
"I'd like to give you a present."
"Me gustaría darte un obsequio".
humble wooden boat seat
de la canoa de Débora Nazareno
of African-American History and Culture.
Afroaestadounidenses.
by almost five million visitors
visto por casi 5 millones de visitantes
from extraordinary historymakers.
de gente extraordinaria.
today and every day
a aparecer hoy y cada día
our names in history,
nuestros nombres en la historia,
que millones de personas los vean
light that is woman.
presente que es la mujer.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ariana Curtis - Afro-Latina researcher and curatorAriana A. Curtis gets to research, collect, interpret and display objects and stories that help tell the history of all of us and our connections to each other.
Why you should listen
An African American educator and a Black Panamanian engineering research technician raised Dr. Ariana Curtis, the youngest of their four kids, in an Afro-Latinx affirming household. Government forms and ill-informed publics have wanted her to be either African American or Latina, but Curtis has always advocated for full and accurate representation of self above all.
The yearning to see lives represented whole led Curtis to travel and study the complex overlap of Blackness, identity, gender, diaspora and belonging. After earning a doctorate in anthropology, Curtis, a Fulbright scholar, joined the curatorial staff of the Smithsonian Institution. She currently serves as the first curator for Latinx Studies at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In this role, she researches, collects, exhibits and promotes Latinx- and Black-centered narratives to more accurately represent the history and culture of the Americas. She also serves on multiple committees for the Smithsonian's American Women History Initiative. She's the author of the paper "Afro-Latinidad in the Smithsonian’s African American Museum Spaces" and the chapter "Identity as Profession: on Becoming an African American Panamanian Afro-Latina Anthropologist Curator" in Pan African Spaces: Essays on Black Transnationalism. She's is passionate about Afro-Latinidad, her Omega Phi Beta sisterhood, social justice, radical love, the Duke Blue Devils and hoop earrings.
Ariana Curtis | Speaker | TED.com