SILENCE = PROBLEM
by John O’SheaScience Gallery London’s communities are directly expressing pain and anger at the recent death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“SILENCE = PROBLEM” was the subject line of an email I received over the weekend from one of Science Gallery London’s Young Leaders, making the point that silence on the part of cultural institutions, and those in power, in a situation of injustice is simply not good enough.
As a gallery located in Southwark, South London, Science Gallery London celebrates the work of black artists, and works directly with young people from our local community to imagine a better world.
Science Gallery London totally rejects racism and all forms of violence against black people.
Galleries and museums are not neutral. The ideas and exhibits we choose to present, who we select to participate, and what kind of topics and issues we tackle - are all representative of our values, and have the power to influence the thinking of others.
As part of King’s College London, Science Gallery London embodies the commitments in King’s Vision 2029 to create ‘an inclusive environment where all individuals are valued and able to succeed’ this includes the student and staff community, our visitors, and the artists and scientists whose work contributes to our programme, irrespective of their skin colour, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity or religion.
As such, we feel the anger and outrage, and wholeheartedly endorse that Black Lives Matter.
In our interconnected, complex world, we are duty-bound by our values not only to denounce hate, racist violence and discrimination in all its forms, but to work pro-actively to tackle any racism or discriminatory behaviour within our community.
In usual times, the exhibitions, events and experiments produced are an expression of the gallery’s core values and purpose. Science Gallery London at Guy’s Campus, in the heart of London, would have been a natural base to host discussion and to provide support to those organising in our community. While our doors may be closed temporarily, Science Gallery London still stands with our community.
In the immediate term, members of Science Gallery London’s Young Leaders, and Mediators are in discussions with the teams at other Science Galleries across the world, (including Detroit and Atlanta, in the U.S.) to identify and organise support activities. Details of this initiative, and further resources will be shared here as they develop.
John O’Shea, Associate Director (Creative), Science Gallery London
#BlackLivesMatter #MuseumsAreNotNeutral
You can read a message from King's College London President and Principal Ed Byrne, and Student Union President Shaswat Jain here.