Guarding the art

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 31 May 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Baltimore Museum of Art is hosting a bold and ground-breaking exhibition curated entirely by 17 members of the its security staff. Broadcaster and art expert Alvin Hall goes behind the scenes to meet some of the guards working on the show, as they begin to install the pieces in the gallery. It has been more than a year-long process, assisted by the museum's chief curator Asma Naeem and mentor Dr Lowery Stokes Sims. Their choices for the show are deeply personal and reflect not only their rich knowledge of art, bur their wide range of interests and concerns outside of museum security work, including poetry, opera, mythology, and social justice.

Transcript

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0:00.0	What goes into making the business daily podcasts from the BBC World Service?
0:04.8	Well first we take a cup full of business news. Naturally.
0:08.0	Then we add a healthy measure of technology.
0:10.0	Mmm. Along with a pinch of exciting innovation.
0:14.0	Business daily from the BBC World Service. Find out more at the end of this podcast.
0:20.0	I'm Alvin Hall, author, broadcaster and art collector.
0:30.0	This is a place that is dear to my heart, the Baltimore Museum of Art.
0:36.0	Here on the BBC World Service we're going behind the scenes on a bold and groundbreaking new exhibition.
0:43.0	Curated entirely by 17 of the museum's security guards.
0:48.0	This is Garden the Art on the BBC World Service.
0:58.0	This is the moment that the artworks are being installed in the two exhibition galleries.
1:04.0	I just grabbed the two. That make it easier.
1:07.0	First the walls was just plain and then bit by bit they're bringing pieces in and you're like,
1:12.0	oh it's so good together. Keeping a close eye this morning is Tracy Archibald Frederick.
1:22.0	She has been a security officer at the museum for 16 years.
1:28.0	I love people. Before I worked at WWI Airport for Homeland Security.
1:32.0	When I was at the airport I met all types of people.
1:36.0	There were people, athletes, actors and then being here is the same thing too.
1:42.0	After searching through the museum's collection, Tracy chose Resist 2, a highly political work from 2021
1:50.0	by contemporary black artists, Michalene Thomas.
1:54.0	I was already familiar with her work and I loved her work.
1:58.0	So when I saw the piece I was like, man this is amazing.
	...

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