Corporate Prudishness and its Challenges on Alternative and Minority Culture Virtual Exhibitions - Video

Corporate Prudishness and its Challenges on Alternative and Minority Culture Virtual Exhibitions
Rene G. Cepeda (UNARTE, Mexico)

From censoring artistic nudity to profanity filters, corporate censorship stifles artists and their works and by extension the creative scope of exhibitions by limiting the choice of platforms available. Examples of this include Facebook, Instagram and TikTok banning Vienna museums for posting nudes from their collections to the point the participating museums had to move to OnlyFans, a platform mostly known for sex work. More egregiously, queer, and disabled artists such as Robert Andy Coombs constantly find themselves hit with community guideline violations for content that heteronormative, able-bodied artists don’t. Furthermore, this limited access to the most popular and by extension more restrictive platforms reduces the reach and accessibility of virtual exhibitions. Not only that, but the necessity for commissioning custom platforms or in-house developments to replicate functionality available in pre-existing platforms elevates costs and reduces the creative and experimental power of online exhibitions. In this presentation I will address the challenges faced by curators and institutions when operating within those spaces and discuss possible ways out of this situation.

Part of the "Institutional Leaks" panel, taking place at September 08, 2PM EST. Register to participate at https://queensu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYrcOCorT0qH9TvmVF2WgXDabPDrj5uToDM