This symposium will be structured as a conversation between Paul Farber, co-founder of the renowned nonprofit public art and history studio Monument Lab, and Ozi Uduma, assistant curator of global contemporary art at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, with Elizabeth James, program associate in Afroamerican and African Studies, as moderator. They will discuss aspects of their new collaborative project examining the role of historic structures at the University of Michigan, particularly UMMA’s Alumni Memorial Hall, in upholding social and cultural systems and narratives and how these histories might be challenged and made more complex. As Uduma explains, “It’s our duty as a free, public museum to tell more complex and more honest stories about the choices made by artists or by builders or by university administrations because those choices often have direct impacts on our communities. To move forward, we must unpack this past."

Panelists:

• Paul M. Farber (Artistic Director and Co-Founder, Mountment Lab)
• Ozi Uduma (Assistant Curator of Global Contemporary Art, University of Michigan Museum of Art)
• Elizabeth James (moderator; Program Associate, Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, University of Michigan)

This event presented by the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies. It is made possible in part by a generous contribution from Kenneth and Frances Aftel Eisenberg.