ABSTRACT
This chapter examines two such interventions and their contexts, explores examples where inviting an artist into the museum is part of a deliberately revisionist strategy to tackle difficult or uncomfortable histories coming out of the tradition of institutional critique. It considers the motivations that shape these projects and think particularly about the role of the commissioned artist within the museum or gallery. It investigates the question of why artist interventions are considered a particularly appropriate and effective strategy in the context of museums. Galleries dealing with these histories, what they achieve that could not happen without the intervention of an artist, and the implications of this practice for museums and galleries, artists and audiences. Both examples discussed are from the UK and from the 2007 commemorations of the Slave Trade Act, although similar projects have taken place in the United States, France, Holland and Denmark to name a few.
