LIBRARY PROGRAM QUESTIONNAIRE: VERA LIST CENTER FOR ART AND POLITICS

A.R.T. NOTES
APRIL 11, 2024

“When did you start participating in the A.R.T. Library Program?

Re’al Christian: We began participating in A.R.T.’s Library Program in early 2023, shortly after we published the first book under our imprint with Amherst College Press, Studies into Darkness: The Perils and Promise of Freedom of Speech.

Carin Kuoni: Studies into Darkness emerged in the wake of Trump’s presidency, when the unqualified embrace of freedom of speech violated the rights of safety and representation, most often for minority populations. The book is guided by artist Amar Kanwar, who prompted us—co-editor Laura Raicovich and myself—to identify a ‘darkness’ in our environment or our society. What resulted is a practical reflection on the history of free speech discourse, which grounds discussions on contemporary crises around free expression.

RC: At a moment when scholarship around social justice is facing increased scrutiny and control—particularly in the context of libraries and educational institutions—we felt that The A.R.T. Library Program provided a much needed alternative platform to share socially and politically engaged ideas in the spaces that tend to be the most regulated… [Studies into Darkness] prompts questions around who has access to free speech and, perhaps more importantly, who does not, and the question of access to language naturally led us to A.R.T.”