Art has always been a powerful force for social change. More recently, institutions themselves have been taking up the activist mantle and becoming sites for progressive dialogue. Sometimes the museum’s role is subtle, and sometimes it’s accidental. Sometimes they decide it’s best to take a backseat and hand the reins to radical young creatives.
Scamming the Patriarchy at New York’s New Museum falls into that last category. The epic youth summit’s second edition takes place this weekend, helmed by a fresh board of curators: underground club queen Venus X, the creative antagonists behind Mask magazine, Viva Ruiz’s pro-choice t-shirt brand Thank God for Abortion, and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. The summit’s 2017 edition builds on the foundations laid down last year: healing, self-love, skill-building, political education, and general empowerment.
This year’s organizers are not catering to the sensitivities of bougie Sunday afternoon gallery-hoppers. Venus X will be holding her four-hour DJ workshop right there in the lobby, with friends False Witness, Jubilee, and Physical Therapy. Arrive early (well, 2pm) for a trans storytelling workshop, followed a screening of The C.O.R.E., a short sci-fi film by trans and gender-nonconforming filmmakers. Ballroom collective Qween Beat will close out the afternoon with a voguing workshop following a history lesson in the genre’s roots. Other must-hits include a panel on magic as resistance and a queer sex ed class.
Check out the full schedule here .