A Statement of Solidarity and Action
June 5, 2020
We add our voices to the chorus of scholarly and cultural institutions standing in solidarity with the tens of thousands of people who are protesting the systemic racism manifest in the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, David McAtee, Tony McDade, and countless other Black individuals in recent months and over the 400-year history of what has become the United States. We offer a full-throated commitment to the declaration that Black Lives Matter.
In this moment of national and international crisis, we also wish to recognize the local impacts of both racism and the current pandemic, which in many cases intertwine. The ICMA’s headquarters is at The Cloisters, located in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan, and the surrounding neighborhoods of Washington Heights and Inwood have been ravaged by COVID-19. Despite the challenges of the day, on Sunday, May 29, roughly 1,500 members of the community came out for a vigil against police brutality held on the Cloisters Lawn. That gathering brought solace and redoubled commitment to productive change and healing.
In the same spirit, we encourage our members to undertake self-reflection and action, and to that end, we direct you toward this document of anti-Racism resources. It is beyond our capacity at this moment to review and vouch for every one of the links included; so please recognize that our aim in sharing this collection is to stimulate your own engagement and discernment. We also direct your attention to suggestions for Expanding the Discourse of Medieval Art, compiled by Andrea Achi (ICMA Board Member and Assistant Curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and Meseret Oldjira (PhD Student, Princeton), which appeared in ICMA News (winter 2017) and inspired initiatives of our Advocacy and Programs & Lectures committees. That document will continue to guide us as we move forward with our work aiming to highlight issues of race and social justice as they pertain to the study and exhibition of medieval culture. We welcome input that will help us expand the resources available on the section of the ICMA website dedicated to Teaching a Global Middle Ages, and we are eager to undertake new initiatives supporting inclusive practices in pedagogy and scholarship. Please be in touch with your ideas.
The International Center of Medieval Art is in a moment of transformation, with the recent confirmation of a new mission statement that articulates our commitment to supporting research of the visual and material cultures of “every corner of the medieval world,” broadening the definition of our field. Moreover, we have initiated programs proactively aimed at nurturing scholars identified with groups traditionally excluded from the academy. The panel “Expanding the Medieval World,” held at the ICMA Annual Meeting during CAA in February in Chicago; the workshop on “Considering Race in the Classroom,” co-organized with the Material Collective, to be held at the ICMS at Kalamazoo in May 2021; and research by many members of the ICMA community that increasingly expands our knowledge of interconnected medieval communities, including work on various facets of medieval Africa, the museological presentation of African-American experiences, and modern racist appropriations of the medieval past exemplify productive directions in our discipline.
As historians of art and architecture, we are particularly attuned to the ways in which images and structures can bolster assertions of authority, and we understand that the creative work of artists equally can shine a light on ugly truths. Though most in our community specialize in the culture of the distant past, we can use our expertise and critical skills to educate and inspire as we analyze the photographs and videos documenting the demonstrations, memorial gatherings, marches, and clashes of the past weeks.
We in the leadership of the ICMA hope that you will join us as we continue to promote and pursue projects being advanced worldwide aimed at education and social justice.
Executive Committee of the ICMA
Nina Rowe, President
Stephen Perkinson, Vice President
Warren Woodfin, Treasurer
Richard Leson, Secretary
Board of Directors of the ICMA
Andrea Achi
Kirk Ambrose
Jennifer Borland
Paroma Chatterjee
Jennifer Feltman
Cathleen Fleck
Holly Flora
Shirin Fozi
Heidi Gearhart
Tracy Chapman Hamilton
Anne Heath
Anne D. Hedeman
Joan Holladay
Erik Inglis
Bryan Keene
Beatrice Kitzinger
Asa Mittman
Linda Safran
Sasha Suda
Thelma K. Thomas
Nancy Wu
Executive Director of the ICMA
Ryan Frisinger