Blog Assignment #4: MOMA Visit Reflection

          

         On Tuesday, April 25^th, I went to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). During my visit I decided to check out the Making Faces on Film: A Collaboration with BFI Black Star exhibition. On the 1^st floor, I found still photographs from multiple films that addressed the notions of gender as well as Blaxploitation. In the 1930s, actresses such as Katharine Hepburn began wearing pants while onscreen to cover themselves up which resulted in the early comings of a gender revolution. By the 1960s, African American actors such as Sidney Poitier began portraying noble characters that sacrificed everything to earn respect from the white society. These films were labeled as “message movies" which were films that were centered around a social issue that was ongoing during that period of time and focused on how to solve that issue. By the 1970s, a new genre of film was created known as “Blaxploitation” which featured strong African American individuals who fought against the racist tensions that society placed on them. Films that belonged to this genre included: Cotton comes to Harlem (1970) which starred Mabel Robinson, Cleopatra Jones (1973) which starred Tamara Dobson, and Coffy (1973) which starred Pam Grier as the title character. This genre paved way for black filmmakers and actors who were struggling to find work. These films also gave them the chance to show off their personal talents. I also viewed photographs of white actors/actresses portraying characters in black-face and yellow-face which became a popular example of racial stereotyping in film by the early 1900s. Such actors/actresses include Boris Karloff, Myrna Loy, and Bert Williams.  

        

Photograph of Tamara Dobson as Cleopatra Jones

Photograph of Boris Karloff as Dr. Fu Manchu

Photograph of Two Screens Looping Excerpts from Racial/Gender Based Films

           

         I also went to the 6^th floor and visited the Unfinished Conversations: New Work from the Collection exhibition. This exhibition included a screening of John Akomfrah’s 45 min film, The Unfinished Conversation (2012) on three channel video or three screens depicting three separate images at a time. This film explores the life and research of Stuart Hall, a Jamaican cultural theorist who was an important political figure in Britain’s history. Hall was the founder of the New Left Review, which was an academic journal that was first published in 1960 and still active to this day. This journal focused on aspects of Social Marxism and Humanism. Hall also conducted research on the struggle of the working class from Britain as well as the Suez Crisis (1956-1957) on Egypt. This crisis involved Israel, Britain, and France who used warfare to gain control of the Suez Canal and tried to drive President Gamal Abdel Nasser out of power. I also viewed a screening of Jonathas de Andrade’s 8 min short film, The Uprising (O Levante) which was shot in Recife, Brazil and shows a horse drawn cart race which was staged by Andrade himself. The race included 50 carters including the real life owners of the horses participating in the race. This race symbolizes the struggle among the peasant class who are fighting against the oppression set by the city's laws and the need to overcome poverty.    

                                                 

  Photograph of John Akomfrah

Photograph of Jonathas de Andrade