Our America was an incredibly effective exhibition, and it offered a rich analysis of all of the materials presented within. Every page of analysis was insightful and it offered great rationale for the direction in which the materials were curated. It was also a remarkably political exhibit, particularly considering that a Smithsonian Institute presents it. Its only real weaknesses were in the general lack of navigability.

Hispanic Americans was probably the least effective of all of the exhibitions. Although it presented a certain amount of historical context and analysis, it seemed almost entirely separate from the art and photography that were offered in the exhibit. While the art almost spoke for itself, the curation felt weak, disjointed, and not particularly germane to the conversation provided by the copy.

COME TOGETHER was somewhat effective, but the lack of versatility in the navigability was frustrating. I didn’t really buy the way that the linear narrative was constructed, and some of the page jumps seemed jarring, at best. That said, the art was definitely themed very effectively, and the curation was very expertly done and argued for within the copy provided within the exhibit itself.

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