As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, we find ourselves at a pivotal crossroads in the national conversation about identity, memory, and who gets to tell our story. This momentous semiquincentennial coincides with the centennial of Negro...
In a Truth Social tirade on Tuesday, Donald Trump called the Smithsonian Institution, which his administration has sought to reshape to favor so-called American exceptionalism, “out of control.” The museum and research network, he said, focuses too heavily on “how bad...
Artist and filmmaker Jessica Oreck cultivates what she calls “a collection of collections.” From tiny glass eggs to lone toy shoes to colorful beads and dominoes, the Office of Collecting & Design contains thousands of minuscule objects that Oreck has...
Even though analogue photography has always played with manipulation and fiction, it was perceived as a technology that represented accurately what was in front of the lens at a specific moment. Once printed, the images were regarded as traces of something that exists...