Conversations with LAXART

Up to this point, the Monuments Toolkit has sat down with leaders in the academic community, activism community and even politics to gather different approaches to the conversation around monuments of oppression. This month we’ll be speaking to an organization in the artistic community for a different point of view. 

To many, these monuments are nothing more than representations of dark times in our nation's history. But in the artistic space, these pieces are symbols, that can be conduits for deeper conversations around the lost cause theory, reparations, and how we heal. One art center that is tackling this issue with fearlessness and grace is LAXART, a Los Angeles-based  nonprofit visual art space that promotes developments in contemporary culture through exhibitions, publications, and public programs. Their upcoming exhibition titled “MONUMENTS” will feature decommissioned Confederate monuments displayed alongside existing and newly commissioned works of contemporary art.

The Monumental Project had the pleasure of speaking with Hamza Walker and Hannah Burnstein, the creative director and program manager of this groundbreaking and timely exhibit. 

Hamza Walker is the director of the Los Angeles nonprofit art space LAXART and an adjunct professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Prior to joining LAXART in 2016, he was director of education and associate curator at the Renaissance Society, a non-collecting contemporary art museum in Chicago, for 22 years where he organized numerous shows and public programming and wrote extensively on the field of contemporary art. Hannah Burstein is an arts researcher, educator, and public programmer based in Los Angeles.  She is currently the Project Manager at LAXART. We hope you enjoy the conversation!