:: archives ::
may 18, 2001 // hip-hop in the museum //
thanks to niem, W and i were able to attend the "Hip-Hop Nation" opening party at yerba buena for free.
the museum was filled with hipsters clad in leather, fur and whatever is trendy right now. since we had to head over to future primitive, we only had about an hour to browse.
the exhibition is more like a collection of hip-hop paraphernalia. i probably need to spend more time thinking and then articulating what i found problematic with the exhibition. maybe i'll go into it in depth next week.
first of all, i was disturbed by the presence of the metal detector. i haven't attended other opening parties at yerba buena but i highly doubt that they had one for other opening parties such as the tom friedman exhibition. but this *is* a hip-hop exhibition and who knows what type of people will show up, right?
"roots, rhymes, and rage: the hip-hop story" had been widely criticized when it was shown in ny and my personal impression of it is that it's a very sanitized and abbreviated representation of hip-hop. it's problematic to present cd's, magazine covers and a bunch of costumes worn by the artists as the "essence" of hip-hop.
there's also the issue of access and privilege which i won't go into right now because i'm tired.
we're hoping to go to the exhibition again. i'm looking forward to seeing it with a critical eye this time.
listening:
to venus and back, tori amos