Isaac Julien and Sherrilyn Ifill on Lessons of the Hour
The artist and the scholar discuss Frederick Douglass’s powerful call for American democratic accountability—and its contemporary echoes.
Sep 17, 2024
In the online edition of MoMA’s ArtSpeaks program, we invite staff members, artists, and special guests to share personal impressions of an artwork in the collection. Here, artist Isaac Julien delves deeper into his 10-channel video installation Lessons of the Hour, in conversation with civil rights lawyer and 2023–24 MoMA scholar-in-residence Sherrilyn Ifill. The video installation pays homage to the legacy of Frederick Douglass, drawing on his life, speeches, and activism to explore the unfinished business of democracy. Julien’s work, along with Ifill’s insights, deepens our understanding of past and present struggles for Black liberation.
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