No 1 Place should have all that POWER!

Meocha Belle 6/11

Today I was not feeling well. On our trip to Musee du Louvre, I felt faint, light-headed and overheated. I attribute it to the side effects of my daily medication along with the hot temperatures inside the museum. Unfortunately, my sickness hindered me form listening attentively and engaging with the tour guide Bill and my cohort. However, from what I did take from the visit in relation to the Paris Noir project, I understand that a museum is a space of power and that the art work- in whatever form- is representative of the peoples and opinions in the positions of power to choose what they put on display and recognize as important pieces. Of course, this means that black artists are underrepresented within the Louvre. So this then makes me wonder where the work of the black French artists are?
As we viewed the many paintings and sculptures in the Louvre, what stood out was the lack of black. In the artwork, producers of the works, and viewers of the works, blackness was lacking. Aside from the Paris Noir cohort, I noticed only black workers inside the museum. While we imagined ourselves as art critics, we had to play Where's Waldo to find the black person in the painting. There was one painting where a black woman was displayed large and the center of attention.
Although she was the center of attention in her painting, she did not compare to The Mona Lisa. DaVinci's work, considered a masterpiece, was displayed behind velvet ropes and bullet-proof covering. At the time we got to it, there were hundreds of people admiring the average looking woman made of paint, yet there was not even one person in front of the black woman we saw a few paintings earlier. It is truly amazing to see power at work.
Seeing this manifestation, it is more apparent how and why black artists across expressive scales were and are overlooked and manipulated. Before leaving, our guide Bill Gleeson told us next week we are to visit the museum in Paris that is by and for minorities. Here's to hoping!

~Paris Noir 2010