Search results for ""Author Steven C. Dubin""

Museums have become ground zero in America's culture wars. Whereas fierce public debates once centered on provocative work by upstart artists, the scrutiny has now expanded to mainstream cultural institutions and the ideas they present. In Displays of Power, Steven Dubin, whose Arresting Images was deemed "masterly" by the New York Times, examines the most controversial exhibitions of the 1990s. These include shows about ethnicity, slavery, Freud, the Old West, and the dropping of the atomic bomb by the Enola Gay. This new edition also includes a preface by the author detailing the recent Sensation! controversy at the Brooklyn Museum. Displays of Power draws directly upon interviews with many key combatants: museum administrators, community activists, curators, and scholars. It authoritatively analyzes these episodes of America struggling to redefine itself in the late 20th century.

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As South Africa’s democracy matures, this book raises pertinent questions: How does the state mediate between traditional tribal authority and constitutional law in matters such as initiation customs or the rights of women, children, and homosexuals? What are the limitations on artistic freedom in a society where sensitivities over colonial- and apartheid-era representations are acute? How does race open up discussions or close down dialogue? and What are the parameters of freedom of speech when minorities fear that hateful language may trigger actual violence against them? Examining disputes over South African art, music, media, editorial cartoons, history, public memory, and a variety of social practices, the culture wars' perspective is extended to new territory in this study, demonstrating its cross-cultural applicability and parsing critical debates within this vibrant society in formation.

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