ABSTRACT
This chapter explores case studies that elucidate elements of the dynamic between arts marketing, social justice activism, and government messaging in the age of social media. In examining these matters, this work reflects on the digitally mediated nature of arts activities and government messaging about the arts that have materialised amidst ongoing structural antiblackness and the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Such writing builds upon my prior work with layla-roxanne hill (2020, p. 1169), which explores “the power of photography to illuminate issues regarding the relationship between race, antiblackness, intersecting oppressions, activism, marketing, media, and the aesthetics of public spaces”. In the context of this chapter, I do this by focusing on different aspects of visual culture and the arts, including sculpture. As part of this discussion, among the many changes that I echo calls for, is more collective work to pushback against the “whitewashing” of critiques of racism in the arts, particularly as such critiques are often only regarded as “legitimate” or are engaged with meaningfully when articulated by those who themselves do not experience racism.
